Treefall
by blackshade9
Summary: Misaka Mikoto stared into the sky, and saw the ruin that she had wrought, and the only words that could escape her mouth; "What have I done?" ((See profile for notes))
1. Chapter 1 - Mikoto and Kuroko

The click-clock of the childish Gekota alarm clock that Misaka Mikoto had bought at some silly rummage sale would have annoyed Kuroko in her current emotional state, as she sat on the edge of her bed, but something else eclipsed that feeling with little effort; concern and worry for her Onee-sama. Misaka Mikoto slept across the room from her, but she hardly rested peacefully. The pain and anxiety on her face made Kuroko wince in sorrow, torn on what to do.

Misaka tossed and turned, her expression constantly shifting and tightening, her body twisting as if she was in some unimaginable agony. Kuroko stood and began to pace back and forth, before reaching over to shake her sleeping partner, only to be repaid with a numbing jolt of electricity that bounced through the room and fried the Gekota alarm clock. Kuroko whimpered a little as she looked at her Onee-sama, who was still asleep, tossing and turning, her attempting to calm her only rewarded by the silencing of the clock.

Kuroko hopped a little on her feet as she tried to get the feeling back in her limbs after peeling herself off of the floor, which took several minutes of involuntary muscle convulsions. Misaka shocked her a lot, yes, and maybe, just maybe, she deserved it sometimes, but that was one of the most painful she'd ever endured.

"Ow ow ow…" She whimpered out quietly, biting back tears of pain, her voice a shudder of her emotional restraint to fight off crying from the pain. "Onee-sama… why…" She whined quietly, shaking her hands a bit to get some more of the numbness out.

And through it all, Misaka's expression consistently worsened in anxiety and distress, not stirring for a moment from her slumber. Kuroko could only wonder in worry at what kind of nightmare might torment her to be that defensive in her sleep…

* * *

In the troubled Railgun's dreams, or rather, her intensely vivid nightmares, Mikoto endured the torment of death. Over and over again. Always changing, always painful and terrifying. Shot to death, ripped apart, crushed, thrown, and so on and so forth. And while she felt every death, she was cursed to be some kind of bizarre observer, watching herself die over and over. She hugged herself as she tried to block it out, storms of electricity jolting out around her defensively as if trying to shield their creator from the horrific pain and trauma that she was repeatedly subjected to. A cry of pain echoed out through her dreams, separate from her own screams of agony- a scream she recognized. She spun around, and was treated to the sight of Kuroko lying on the ground in the black floating void with her.

Kuroko looked up at Mikoto from the ground, her face burned with electrical discharge, whimpering up at her. "Onee-sama…. why…" She whimpered out in pain, coughing up blood as she slid to the ground. Mikoto rushed to her best friend, shaking her viciously. "Kuroko? Kuroko! KUROKO!" She shouted her name, over and over again. Once again, she felt like time was on a repeat, where she could watch one of the most important people in her life die a death caused by her. Tears streaked down her face as she put her hands to her ears to muffle her own echoing shouts of Kuroko's name that resonated through the void.

She inhaled sharply as she gasped for air, before letting out a scream.

* * *

Kuroko braced herself as she reached for her roommate once more, preparing for the shock, but needing to wake her up with the expression on her face contorting from anxiety to terror- fruitlessly, as Mikoto's eyes burst open, letting out an electrical charge through the air that Kuroko managed just barely to teleport out of the way into the corner of the room, Mikoto letting out a blood curdling scream as she woke covered in sweat.

There was a pained silence in the room as Mikoto sat in bed, the only sound being her hard panting as she tried to refocus on where she was. Kuroko only hesitated for a moment, before rushing over to her. "Onee-sama!" She grabbed on to Mikoto, who spun around quickly, her face a sweaty mess with tears on her face. Kuroko didn't even get a word out before Mikoto grabbed her face rather suddenly, staring into it with a panicked intensity that made Kuroko blush. This was held for but a moment before Kuroko overheard the sounds of people in the hallway talking, which caused her to spin around toward the door as a heavy knock was heard. Kuroko didn't even get a chance to run over and answer it before it was slammed open, the Dorm Mistress standing there with a mixture of anger and intensity. Her eyes scanned the room, seeing Kuroko half-way to the door, and Mikoto sitting in her bed. She quickly covered her face to conceal her tears.

To Kuroko's credit, she didn't miss a beat, intercepting the Dorm Mistress an situation.

"Terribly sorry, Dorm Mistress! Just some bad food from earlier today, I think." Kuroko said, lying through her teeth. The skeptical look on the Dorm Mistress face said quite a bit about how much she was believed.

"Shirai, step aside." Was all she said, brushing Kuroko aside and striding toward Mikoto, who had taken the time to wipe her face quickly.

"A-Apologies, it's like Kuroko said, I think something I ate… disagreed with me." Mikoto quickly joined in on the rather absurd lie. The Head Mistress gaze was leveled on her, accusingly, doubting her words.

"...Do inform me if you need immediate medical aid. See the doctor tomorrow." She said in a tone that commanded, and did not request. Mikoto only nodded quietly, not wanting to push her luck with this small amount of mercy she was being given.

The Dorm Mistress filed out of the room, Kuroko closing the door behind her with a bow. On the other side of the door, she could be heard herding the other girls back to their rooms. Kuroko let out a sigh as she rested her forehead against the door for a moment, before looking over at Mikoto who had returned to resting her face in her hands.

"Onee-sama…" Kuroko said quietly, before approaching the bed. Mikoto looked up at her after washing her face clean, and her eyes fell on the burns on her roommates pajamas, along with some redness from the electric shock and slight twitching that Kuroko was still trying to control.

"I hurt you." She said quietly, as she saw the wounds her unconscious electric defenses had inflicted. Kuroko blinked and looked at what Mikoto saw, before giving her roommate a smile and waving it off.

"Oh this? It's fine, it's fine!" She said with a smile, hopping over to Mikoto's bed. Mikoto seemed unconvinced, but Kuroko simply waved it off some more.

"Don't worry about it, just a little shock when I tried to wake you up, you looked so distressed in your sleep! But, if it makes you feel better, you could always give me a kiss in return!" She said, leaning over as if to kiss Mikoto who pushed her head away gently.

"Well… clearly you're fine." She said with a weak smile, somewhat cheered up by Kuroko's antics. "You should get to sleep." She said to Kuroko who gave her a smile and a gentle nod.

"As you wish, Onee-sama." She said, walking over to the bed and laying back down, though in her heart, filled with concern.

As both laid back down, neither slept another wink that night.

* * *

The next day, Mikoto had done as told, and reported to the hospital to check in with a doctor. She was fortunate enough to get the Gekota-faced doctor she'd met during the Level Upper incident, which helped cheer her up a little. Kuroko, in the meantime, had chosen to come along, and no amount of objection from Mikoto seemed able to dissuade her. Now she sat in the lobby, patiently awaiting the return of Mikoto.

"Misaka-san." The doctor spoke up, breaking her out of her thoughts, realizing she'd drifted away from the conversation.

"Sorry, you were saying that… uh…" The doctor patiently sighed before he restarted his sentence.

"I was asking you if you'd had any similar nightmares recently, and if you had eaten anything out of the ordinary, or had experienced any other notable change in your lifestyle." He asked with all the patience of a saint.

Mikoto took a moment to think, listing off the things she'd eaten recently, the things she'd recently done, but none of it was out of the ordinary. Despite this… this was the fourth night in a row that she'd had this reoccuring nightmare, though the inclusion of Kuroko was a first. Through her explanation, the doctor listened and took notes of what she said, nodding a bit.

"For now, I believe it is best to keep an eye on things, and to carefully monitor anything different that may crop up during your daily routine. We won't just sit here and do nothing, of course. We'll take some blood samples and see if anything can be found there before taking any more significant measures to address this problem." He explained to her, Mikoto silently nodding. After taking several vials of her blood and given the instructions to take it easy, she departed out of the office and met back up with Kuroko who was patiently sitting in the waiting room for her.

Kuroko hopped up and restrained herself from leaping on Mikoto, giving her a smile instead.

"What did the Doctor say?" She asked, looking Mikoto over in concern. Mikoto meanwhile looked kind of… wobbly. She just gave Kuroko a smile.

"Just need to keep an eye on what I eat and run some blood tests. Let's go get something to eat on the way home." She smiled, quickly moving to exit the hospital before Kuroko could make any concerned objections.

* * *

They stopped at a ramen shop on the way home, taking a seat as Mikoto balanced herself, very much noticing the concerned looks Kuroko was giving her, and how close she was, like she was afraid Mikoto might topple over. Once they'd gotten seated, they both grabbed a menu, while Mikoto stared at it, not reading, but her mind simply wandering once again as she thought of those dreams that rattled through her head. Kuroko ordered her food, and gave Mikoto a light touch on the shoulder to knock her out of her thoughts.

"O-oh, sorry. I'll have, uh, same thing Kuroko ordered." She said absently to the cook. The young man smiled at her, his fox-like facial features a little off-putting. She remembered some student she'd run into once who looked like that.

"Coming right up." He said politely before turning and starting their food. Mikoto looked to Kuroko, who was eyeing her intensely, scowling at her. Before Mikoto could even get a word in, Kuroko cut her off.

"You know, you can ask me for help any time, Onee-sama." She said, her expression softening a bit. Mikoto winced a little at the comment, biting her lip.

"It's just some bad dreams, Kuroko. Don't worry, I'll let you know if it gets any worse, or if you can help in anyway." Mikoto gave her roommate and best friend a smile to help mollify her. Kuroko returned the smile, puffing herself up proudly.

"See that you do, Onee-sama! Shirai Kuroko will always be here for you!" She says with a big proud grin, which made Mikoto laugh a little, her roommates antics, tame as they were today, cheering her up a bit. Their food was delivered by the fox-faced chef who went back to serving other customers, while the two girls happily ingested their food before packing up and heading back to their dorm so Mikoto could rest and replenish her blood supply.

* * *

Kuroko had settled in to do some homework, watching as Mikoto laid down, sighing a little, looking pale from her experience. She periodically would glance over her shoulder, walking over and asking her roommate if there was anything she needed, and generally fussing over until Mikoto had to threaten her with bodily electrified harm to get her to simply rest, which Kuroko relented to after just a tiny shock.

Now, Kuroko had burned through her homework and simply watched Mikoto sleep, somewhat protectively, hoping no nightmares would bother her this day. Her hope was not to be fulfilled. Within a couple hours of drifting off, just as Kuroko made her way out of the shower, it was clear that Mikoto was already suffering from nightmares, even worse than before as she tossed and turned in her sleep.

Having prepared for this, Kuroko dove under her bed and grabbed some rubber gloves, jumping as she heard a rather intense thunder boomed overheard, causing her to smack her head on the underside of her bed. She grabbed the gloves and slid out from underneath, rubbing her head and teleporting to the window, looking up with wide eyes as a thunderstorm seemed to have conjured itself seemingly out of nowhere. But she knew better.

Kuroko dashed over to her Onee-sama, with a not unsound fear that her night terrors were about to wipe Tokiwadai off the map.


	2. Chapter 2 - Kuroko

Kuroko

This was not normal. That was the only thought that could come to Kuroko's mind as she rushed from the rattling window to the thrashing Mikoto, whose very nightmares had conjured forth an enormous thunderstorm overhead. The pounding thunder that seemed to shake the entire building was intimidating, and Kuroko had great doubts she had much time to do anything before lightning began striking everything.

Kuroko's long hair whipped behind her, not yet in her normal ribbons, and only her nightgown and rubber gloves for protection as she grabbed at her Onee-sama's arm tightly, expecting electric discharge to hit her even with the gloves, but needing to wake her up before something horrible happened. She knew that if anyone was hurt, who Mikoto would blame, and that need to take responsibility is part of what made Mikoto as wonderful as she was. As Kuroko grabbed onto the arm and fixed her grip hard, she was unable to finish the romantic praising thought of her Onee-sama before electricity hit her the likes of which she'd never felt.

Her entire body went rigid as her muscles filled with electricity, and the numbing pain was agony. Somewhere in the distance she faintly noted the sound of the dorm's windows shattering in unison. That soon faded however, as it seemed like the very electric power coursing through her nerves went right to her brain, and rather than passing out, she began to see… things. Flashes of pain, flashes of death, her entire vision was overwritten as she saw Mikoto die over and over again, heard an insane, cold laughter at the mutilated bodies of Mikoto that were killed in so many gruesome ways, and flashes of… herself. Flashes of her own body killed in horrifying ways, and of the sorrow filled screams of horror that filled Mikoto's mind as she saw her best friend dead at her feet.

She didn't have long to dwell on the horrible images or the terrible pain that she was suffering through. Rather suddenly, she felt like she'd been lifted right off her feet, a feeling of weightlessness before she was sent hurtling through the air and into a wall, breaking her contact with Mikoto who had been sent similarly flying into the wall. The last thing Kuroko saw was the blurry figures of people running into the room toward her before everything went black.

* * *

Kuroko groaned a little as she came to, blinking the drowsiness out of her eyes, though they remained heavy and difficult to open. She heard a gasp next to her and a familiar voice call out.

"Shirai-san!" Came the concerned and compassionate voice of her Judgement partner- Uriharu Kazari. Uriharu was dressed in her school's uniform, with her trademark synthetic flowers adorning her neck-length dark hair. Her concern and empathy was painfully clear to Kuroko even in her drowsy state.

"Hey… Uriharu…" She said with difficult, her mouth feeling like it was filled with cotton. She took a second to glance around the room, to see where exactly it was she wound up. Unsurprisingly, a quick weary glance around told her that she was in a hospital room, laying in a hospital bed. What was actually surprising was how little pain she felt. She knew that what she'd just endured must have been damaging to her body with how painful it was. Those thoughts were derailed as the images she saw when she touched Mikoto that night began to filter into her mind again, but she was pulled away by the voice of Uriharu.

"I'm so glad you're awake! You've been asleep for three days." She says, Kuroko blinking at her.

"Three days?" Kuroko echoed, blinking. "I feel fine…" She mumbled. Uriharu nodded and winced a little.

"W-well, yes, that's… probably because of the morphine." She explained, pointing up at the IV stand that had several fluids dripping from it, one of which was most definitely morphine. It definitely explained why it felt like she was floating around in the bed and everything felt kind of amazing.

"Oh. That… makes sense. Wait. Onee-sama…" Kuroko started to push herself off of the bed, given a sudden resurgence of energy as her mind moved to Mikoto. Uriharu quickly jumped up to hold her down.

"Misaka-san is OK! She's here too! You have to stay in bed, you haven't healed yet!" She objected quickly, pushing down. Ordinarily, Kuroko was much stronger, but she felt like a wet noodle so she fell back onto the bed with hardly any ability to resist. Uriharu stared her intensely, the cute expression she typically wore somewhat marred by the slight dabbling of tears that she struggled to hold back.

"We almost lost both of you. Please… please rest." Uriharu said in an almost begging tone. Kuroko felt a pang of guilt for being the cause, and sank down into the bed again, returning to her ongoing battle against morphine-induced sleepiness.

A long silence filled the room, with Uiharu uncertain as to what to say, and Kuroko trying to process everything. After several long minutes of nothing but the heart monitor, Kuroko turned a drowsy eye to Uiharu again.

"What happened?" She asked softly, seeking to fill in the blanks in her memory. Uiharu shifted in her seat to sit up straighter, but opened her mouth without a sound, as if uncertain how to reply. In the end, she did not have to, as the door to the room opened up shortly after, and a voice that Kuroko dreaded to hear filled the room.

"I believe that I can assist in answering that question." Came the somewhat uncharacteristically quiet voice of Kongou Mitsuko, her classmate, fellow Level 4 Esper, and frustrating self-appointed rival. She stepped into the room, holding on to her trademark green traditional Japanese fan, fidgeting with it in a nervous manner that Kuroko had never seen. As much as it pained Kuroko to admit it, even in her head, Kongou was very beautiful, with long dark hair that reached down to her lower back, parted in a fringe to flank her forehead, with dark eyes that matched her locks.

"You see…" Kongou began, looking away from Kuroko and concealing her face behind her fan, less in her usual haughty annoying manner, and more like the fan was a shield. "I was staying at your dormitory with a friend, with permission of course, and I heard this dreadful sound, and then the storm began to appear out of nowhere and…" She continued on for quite some time, adding in unnecessary and pointless details nervously, and she had to restart more than once, as her droning on combined with the morphine caused Kuroko to drift off to sleep several times and had to be reawakened with a slight shake. Eventually, Kuroko cut her off.

"Just skip to the point, Kongou…" She muttered tiredly, sighing a little, her eyelids feeling like bricks were attached to them. Kongou gulped and nodded.

"Well, I ran to your room with several others, and at the sound of screaming, we forced our way in and saw… you and her, in such horrible looking pain, with wind and glass everywhere. You were nearly frozen in place from it all, and looked so terrible, and Misaka-san was so, so troubled looking and…" She began to ramble again, but a stern glare from Kuroko got her to get back on track.

"I acted in the moment and used my power to detach you two from one another, but I fear in my haste to assist that I may have… exasperated your injuries or added new ones." She said, before, with no small amount of wounded pride, bowing to Kuroko. "Your injuries are partly my fault. Please forgive me." She said, not meeting Kuroko's eyes.

Kuroko stared at her a little blankly, and part of her suspected that she… should have been angry. But really, she wasn't at all. Not even a little. She glanced up at her IV again and then back at Kongou.

"I'm… somewhat confident this is the morphine talking, but I do, in fact, forgive you. Maybe." She said, her words coming out slightly slurred. Kongou stood up straight, hiding behind her fan still.

"A-ah! Well, very good then. I… shall leave you to rest." She said before making a hasty retreat out of the room and down the hall. Kuroko stared at the door as Uiharu, who had been sitting quietly and awkwardly through it all, just blinked and turned back to Kuroko.

"Well, that was, uh… Is there anything I can get you-" She began to say as she turned to Kuroko, seeing that she'd dozed off again.

"Wow, that stuff really is strong…" She marveled at the painkiller.

* * *

The next several days passed in a bit of a blur. Kuroko had to stay on painkillers for several days, so she was constantly drowsy and hard to talk to, since she'd often forget the subject or just doze off, though that did not stop classmates from coming to visit her, nor a few Judgement colleagues. It was nice to be cared about by people, even if none of them were who she truly wanted to see. The frog-faced doctor came to see her, explaining the extent of her injuries.

"You are quite fortunate. Your blood work came back fine, but you have several fractures and a very severe concussion, along with some internal damage from electricity. You've gotten over the worst of it all, but you'll need to take it easy for awhile." The doctor explained to her, Kuroko slightly cranky having started to wean off of the painkillers, which made her ache, and made her far more alert and prone to annoyance. She nonetheless remained polite, nodding silently, and shaking her head when he asked if she had any questions.

Ultimately, her thoughts were filled with only one thing- how was Mikoto? She needed to know, needed to talk to her, see her, let her know she wasn't angry at her, apologize for not being able to help her more competently. She sat in her bed quietly as the doctor left, fretting and fidgeting.

She was forced to endure a few more days of rest off of any painkiller before she was discharged.

"What about Onee-sama?" She asked the hospital staff, who could only give her a somewhat patronizing smile. "She will be along soon enough behind you. Do you need us to call a driver to take you to the School Garden?" They asked, with all the patronizing attitude that an adult could have to someone younger. She scowled and shook her head, storming off and deciding to just blow off steam by walking, even if her bones still ached.

She was sent to the School Garden dormitory, since her and Mikoto's dorm was… severely damaged.

When she arrived, she was greeted with a fairly bare bones room, just the essentials and basics, and she could hardly be surprised. The weight of the walk there, which had been farther than she'd thought, began to push down on her, and with some effort, she managed to get her uniform off and her nightgown on, shuffling over to the bed and lying down, taking the medication they'd pushed on her and laying her head against the pillow.

She was asleep in an instant.


	3. Chapter 3 - Mikoto

Mikoto

Mikoto sighed a little as the door to her hospital room closed, Kongou having made a quick retreat out once Mikoto had accepted her apology, heading in the direction of Kuroko's room. She turned to face her friend, Saten Ruiko, looking a little irritable, which made Saten shift slightly in her seat. Saten had long, waist length dark hair, and pretty blue eyes with fair skin, but unfortunately, Mikoto didn't have the energy to really admire them. The doctors had put her on a mixture of painkillers and stimulants to both reduce the pain from her injuries and keep her awake, since every time she fell asleep, nightmares struck her and caused her powers to go out of control.

"S-so, is there anything I can get yo-" Saten began before Mikoto cut her off.

"NO!" She snapped irritably, causing Saten to visibly flinch, but then Mikoto paused and instantly looked ashamed. "…I'm sorry." she said in barely a whisper. Saten shifted in her seat again, looking at her lap.

"It's… it's OK. I know you're really tired. I'll go see if the Doctor is coming!" She said, standing up and heading out of the room. Mikoto only nodded as she left, half expecting her to just take the opportunity to get a break from Mikoto. She couldn't blame her friend- she knew full well that she'd been a complete bitch to her the past few hours, and she felt like a shit friend because of it, drugs or no. It did teach her how great sleep was, as thirty six hours without it and she was starting to feel like she was going insane. She wanted to see Kuroko, feeling profoundly guilty over her injuries, and had shouted at hospital staff more than once when told that she wasn't awake and that Mikoto needed to stay in bed.

"I'm such a bitch…" She muttered to herself, leaning forward and covering her face, filled with some self-loathing thoughts that were cut off as the door opened. She jerked her head up and saw the doctor known as Heaven Canceller, a rather lofty title that she'd never heard him personally use. She only knew him as Dr. Meido.

"Misaka-san…" The doctor said with all the disapproval of a disappointed grandparent that somehow made Mikoto feel even shittier about herself. He sighed a bit before taking a seat next to her bed.

"I'm here to tell you what we found in your blood work. These nightmares are most definitely coming from this…" He clicked a remote, and a projector in the ceiling flashed a few pictures onto the wall. They showed blood cells, tinted with some kind of off-reddish color. Mikoto narrowed her eyes at it, shifting from one picture to another.

"As you can see, there's some kind of copper-based neurotoxin in your blood stream. The first picture is from when you first came to me about this problem. The second and third are from samples we took when you arrived here after your injuries." He began to explain, Mikoto squeezing the sheets into her fists as she took slow, deep breathes to keep herself calm and focused.

"From the time you left his hospital to return home and were returned here that same night, the neurotoxin in your system more than quadrupled. Combine that with the blood loss from our samples, we can ascertain that was the primary reason behind the especially vicious night terrors you experienced. Unfortunately, without further information, we have no idea how that got there." He said, turning to face her once more. Mikoto turned her head to look at him, clenching her jaw.

"The dreams feel so real… and so painful." She muttered. The doctor nodded at her patiently.

"Yes, well, that is why we will be giving you an additional transfusion tonight. Once your blood has been more replenished and we've flushed the majority of this toxin from your system, you should be free to leave. We'll monitor you over the next several days. Once you have tonight's transfusion, you will be taken off of the stimulants and you can get some much needed sleep." He explained to her, giving her a smile. Mikoto returned the smile very weakly and halfheartedly, but appreciated the gesture. The doctor gave her a nod before departing, leaving Mikoto alone with her thoughts.

Her first thoughts went to Kuroko. Her annoying, horny, invasive, and… loyal roommate. Best friend. Who had been thrown into a 3 day coma because she had bad dreams and had tried to help her. She just wanted to find Kuroko and apologize to her, though a prideful part of her wondered if that was a good idea with how feisty Kuroko could be.

Mikoto let out a wistful sigh as she continued her endless pondering.

* * *

The days flew by, Mikoto given transfusions of blood to help clean up her system, and eventually getting some much needed sleep. Saten and Uriharu periodically stopped by to check on her, with Mikoto apologizing to both of them excessively with how she'd behaved when she was sleep deprived. Her two empathetic friends were very forgiving, as they often were, even if Mikoto thought they were a bit too forgiving.

"How is Kuroko?" She asked Uriharu the first chance she got during the conversation. Uriharu blinked in momentary surprise before smiling.

"She's doing OK, she's been kind of loopy on morphine, it is kind of funny sometimes. She seems like she's in good spirits, I think. Just tired out. We were visiting with her when they told her that you and her were being transferred to the School Garden dormitory while repairs are being done." Uriharu explained, trying to be as cheerful as possible with the news, keeping that smile that Uriharu could just use to light up a room.

"She got weaned off it, so that was fun, but she took it well." Saten added quickly with her own smile, attempting to help how she could.

"I think they said that she was being released sometime today. You are too, I think?" Saten asked Mikoto, who gave a slight nod.

"Once they give me one more blood transfusion." She nods. "They keep pulling blood in and out to clear out my system." She sighed a little, leaning back in her bed, feeling like she was dead to the world. They idly chatted for some time still, until eventually curfew started coming along and they had to say their farewells.

Mikoto got her last treatment, and while waving off the concerns of the nurses, walked toward the dormitory in the School Garden.

* * *

Mikoto took her time to get to the dorm room, mostly out of sheer fatigue, clumsily messing with the key in the lock as she made her way into the room quietly.

"Hey Kuroko-!" She cut herself off as she saw Kuroko already in bed, sound asleep. Mikoto felt a pang in her chest of disappointment, frowning but shaking it off. She was tired, Kuroko was tired, they both were tired. She could get some sleep, and apologize in the morning. She weakly changed her clothes into her Gekota pajama's, and as she made her way out of the bathroom, she paused at Kuroko's bed, looking down at her, and found herself staring at the peaceful face of Kuroko for longer than she thought strictly necessary.

She put a hand to her cheek and it felt warm. Pausing only for a second before shaking her head again, she made her way to the bed and flopped down onto the pillow, passing out before she had the chance for another odd thought.


	4. Chapter 4 - Kuroko and Mikoto

Kuroko and Mikoto

A tiny Mikoto stood with her hands up against a large window looking down at what looked like a gym. She blinked as she watched a boy struggle to walk between two hand railings, the effort clearly exhausting him.

"Is that boy hurt?" the tiny voice of Mikoto asked the large man in a lab coat who stood next to her. The man felt like a giant to her. He shook his head.

"Not at all, Mikoto-chan. He is suffering from a disease known as Muscular Dystrophy. He fights hard against it, as you can see, despite the difficulty." He explained to her with what could be called a soft and sympathetic look. Mikoto smiled at the man's words, seemingly encouraged.

"But…" He began, causing Mikoto to look up at him once more. "In the end, the disease will continue to spread, and he will not even be able to stand up. Eventually his heart and lungs will fail, and he will die." The man explained, his hands behind his back. Mikoto frowned and looked through the window once more, a sad look on her face.

"However, with your Electromaster powers, we might be able to help him in a way modern medicine has not been able to do." He continued, kneeling down next to her. "Mikoto-chan, would you be willing to give us your DNA map? With it, we might be able to help those young people." He smiled to her softly, offering his hand to her. Mikoto didn't even hesitate, beaming at him.

"Yes!" She smiled, taking his hand happily, filled with the glow of doing a good deed.

* * *

Mikoto groaned a little as she woke up, the sun shining through the window on one of her eyes, causing her to squint a bit, squeezing her stuffed bear a bit tighter.

"Dream…? Why something from so long ago? At least it's not like the nightmar-"

Her train of thought was cut off as she felt a tightness, a squeezing, around her waist. She blinked a bit, fully waking up as she glanced down and spotted a pair of tiny, thin arms wrapped around her waist. She heard a sleepy groan behind her and a body pressing up against hers, and felt her face starting to heat up.

"Mmm… Onee-sama…" Came the familiar, sleepy voice of Kuroko as Mikoto felt a cheek nuzzle up against the spot between her shoulder blades. Mikoto had a brief moment where static built up to shock her liberally touchy roommate for invading her bed, but it almost instantly died down with a sense of overwhelming guilt in her chest. She'd already hurt Kuroko because of her nightmares, hurt her so much she was rendered temporarily comatose.

As she laid there, the prolonged contact created by Mikoto's uncertainty as to how to respond if her typical more violent approach was off the table was causing an intense flush to generate on her cheeks as Kuroko simply cuddled with her in her sleep, occasionally mumbling a little, but otherwise, doing nothing besides sleeping.

"U-um… Kuroko?" Mikoto finally spoke up. No response. She internally cussed. "Kuroko." She said more firmly and louder, which mercifully created the sound of a stirring girl.

"Mmm? Onee-sama?" Kuroko blinked herself awake as she looked around and gasped in a way that was nothing short of gleeful. "Onee-sama~! You sneaked into my bed!?" She said with a joyful cry, before Mikoto wormed her way up and turned to face Kuroko, leaning back a bit.

"W-what?! No! You're in my bed!" She objected, pointing from one bed to the other, Kuroko following with her eyes before she raised her hands up, laughing nervously, seemingly expecting a shock. When it didn't come, there was a brief awkward silence as Kuroko sat up as well, her nervous giggling unending.

"Oh, I guess I must have really been tired or… something!" Kuroko said, off-balance since she'd never gotten past the point of being electrocuted, placing her arms to her hips and puffing herself out a little to try to show confidence through her jittery nerves. There was a squeaking sound of pain that escaped out of Kuroko's suddenly clenched teeth as her eyes shot open wide and she stiffened, a small amount of blood starting to stain her nightgown from roughly her belly area.

Both panicked.

* * *

After a moment of running about the room in a slight panic, Mikoto had gotten Kuroko to the bathroom and seated in the edge of the bath as she changed her roommates bandages, Kuroko hugging her bare chest as Mikoto went to work.

"Thank you, Onee-sama…" Kuroko said with a sigh, simply enjoying the close proximity. Mikoto nodded a little, making a small grunt of affirmation. "What did the doctor say about your nightmares?" Kuroko added in, in an attempt to keep the conversation moving. Mikoto took a moment to answer, focusing on redoing the bandages for a minute.

"He said that I had some kind of copper-based neurotoxin in my system somehow. Said it got worse from day to day, so they had to clean out a lot of my blood." She said in a kind of neutral, emotionally restraiend tone. "Kept me awake for something like 40 hours just so that I wouldn't cause another natural disaster." She muttered, causing Kuroko to frown and look over her shoulder at Mikoto.

"It isn't your fault, Onee-sama. People get sick, and maybe something is in the food we've been eating or…" She trailed off in thought for a moment, causing Mikoto to look at her and raise an eyebrow, before Kuroko just smiled at her. "I don't blame you. For any of it." Kuroko said as she met eyes with Mikoto. Mikoto didn't respond at first, before simply quietly nodding to her. They finished changing their bandages and clothes in relative silence.

After getting into their uniforms, the pair had wandered out into town together, making idle small talk.

* * *

"So, what is it on the agenda today, Onee-sama?" Kuroko asked Mikoto as they walked down the street, occasionally smiling or waving at passerby's who recognized Mikoto- a fairly common occurrence in Academy City.

"Well, we have that cross-cultural study trip coming up in September, I thought maybe I could go shopping for supplies for that… though not sure if I will be traveling at all." Mikoto mused, smiling a bit as her mind wandered to Gekota-styled bathsets and toothbrushes and…

As her mind wandered, Kuroko was staring at the back of her head with intense judgement. "More childish items, huh…" Kuroko lamented with a weary sigh. When would Onee-sama grow up… this was really unbecoming of a lady such as her.

"You say something?" Mikoto asked as she looked over her shoulder at Kuroko curiously, who quickly waved her off.

"No, no! Nothing at all! You know, I think I know a shortcut, follow me! We can get to the shopping mall faster this way!" She said, grabbing Mikoto's hand and dragging her into a very thin alleyway. Mikoto marveled a little bit at the tight quarters, looking around at all the piping, surprised that such a shortcut existed.

"I'm surprised you know about such an odd shortcut, Kuroko." She mused to the girl, who gave her a big grin.

"I know this city like the back of my hand because of my work with Judgement! Best part is, these alley's are always deser-" she began, before blinking at the oncoming traffic of a young man who seemed to be staring at the ground. Both Kuroko and Mikoto squeezed against the wall as he passed by.

"W-well, as I was saying, it's USUALLY deser-" She stopped as yet another passerby came walking down, the irritation growing on Kuroko's face, with Mikoto giving her a raised eyebrow.

"Deserted, huh?" Mikoto asked with some sarcasm, to which Kuroko sighed.

"Yes! No one ever comes down these areas, I don't know what could-" She paused yet again as a rather obese man began to walk down the alley, Kuroko's face growing into one of solid annoyance as she reached behind her and grabbed Mikoto's hand, teleporting them both past the man.

"Seriously, what is going on-" And suddenly the world spun as her foot landed on something round and she slammed into the ground, an empty can rolling down the alley. "Owie… can I just finish a sentence.." She groaned.

"Kuroko!" Mikoto dove to the ground, looking at her. "You OK? Your bandages alright?" She asked quickly, Kuroko smiling up at the concerned face of her partner. "Just fine! I think… huh?" She blinked as she reached underneath an AC unit, grabbing an envelope and standing up.

"What's that?" Mikoto asked, tilting her head. Kuroko popped it open and looked inside, pulling out a thin card. They both looked it over.

"Is that…" Mikoto began.

"A cash card?" Kuroko finished with an incredulous look on her face.

* * *

"You found one too?" Asked the sweet voice of Uriharu as Mikoto and Kuroko got settled in to the Judgement office.

"Too?" Asked Mikoto with a raised eyebrow, to which Uriharu nodded.

"Yup, we've gotten reports of people finding envelopes with cash cards all over town, 48 already- oh wait, it's up to 56!" She said as she peeked at her computer screen. Both Kuroko and Mikoto looked at each other with raised eyebrows of suspicion.

"That seems… weird. Who just leaves cash cards lying around?" Kuroko asked, standing up from the chair she'd straddled and sighing.

"Uncertain, and it's not technically illegal to leave cash cards lying around, only money itself, so we're not really sure what to do." Uriharu admitted, frowning. "But the Skill-Out gangs have become a lot more restless because of it, with these treasure hunts citizens are getting into causing an increase in muggings and territorial dispute." She sighed, looking at her screen again, her fingers tapping away at the keys.

Kuroko sighed and slipped on her Judgement sleeve, frowning to Mikoto. "Sorry, Onee-sama, we'll have to continue our date some other time." She said, trying to give her a smile. Mikoto waved off any concern with a grin.

"No worries, I can shop by myself. I'll see you tonight, OK?" She said, waving as she took off, not noticing the pouting Kuroko as Mikoto tore off.

"Nooo… now that just makes me feel even lonelier…" Kuroko whined as she bit at a handkerchief in her hand as her roommate tore off. Uriharu patted her back and handed her a map.

"Time to get to work!" Uriharu said with a beaming smile that brightened the room around the saddened Kuroko.

"Yeah, yeah…" Kuroko sighed out with a wistful look.

"Stay safe, Onee-sama…"


	5. Chapter 5 - Kuroko

Kuroko

"A… copper-based neurotoxin?"

Kuroko appeared on the corner edge of a tall building as she surveyed her patrol area, her hand up to her earpiece that Uiharu's question rang over. "That's right. Onee-sama doesn't seem to be taking it as seriously as I think she should, especially if it has gotten worse in such a short period of time." She said with concern heavy in her voice.

"Head to the northwest about 300 yards, there might be something going on there." Uiharu said, fully able to work and talk. "What did you want to do about it?" She asked.

Kuroko resumed her teleporting, hopping through space from one rooftop to another to the desired location. "I don't know. What could have happened to get her infected with such a toxin? I should go through our room, and our food… but I suspect something a lot more sinister at play here-" She stopped short in her sentence as she landed on a rooftop and gazed down at some unruly looking ruffians surrounding a couple students. "Target's acquired." She said, before teleporting downward.

As some of the ruffians approached the two terrified looking students, Shirai Kuroko of Judgement appeared in front of them, pulling on her Judgement sleeve as she struck a confident stance. "In the name of Judgement, you are all under arrest!" She proudly proclaimed, puffing out her chest. The thugs, who by all looks were Skill-Out, simply exchanged brief looks before laughing and charging. Kuroko sighed. She was always taken with such a lack of seriousness.

Her first movement was to teleport out of the way of a thin man in a red hoodie, appearing behind him with a drop kick to the back of the head, landing gracefully and twirling out of the way of the next, using their own momentum to flip them head first into the ground where they landed with a crunch that signified a broken nose. With two of the five thugs disabled in a matter of seconds, the other three seemed suddenly less willing to engage the tiny girl, but sadly for them, Kuroko was not in the mood to wait.

Taking a step forward toward she disappeared yet again, landing on the shoulders of one thug and pushing off of him so his back hit the wall, four needles vanishing from her thigh holster and into his clothing and the wall itself. She heard the remaining two charge at her from flanking sides, and with all the monotone expression of one who lacked any fear of the situation, teleported away at the last second so the two smashed their heads together.

As she reappeared, she let out another sigh. "Targets apprehended." She said with all the attitude of a routine procedure. Never a dull moment. Kuroko took the time to cuff the five men together, and speak with the two students and hurrying them back off to their dorms, calling Anti-Skill and going through the thugs pockets while she waited, checking them for weapons or illicit material. She found a couple knives, but beyond that, the only notable item she found was a vial of a dirty reddish liquid of some kind. She raised an eyebrow and looked at the man in question, but he was still out cold from her drop kick to his head. She pocketed it, resolving to deal with it later.

* * *

After Anti-Skill had arrived and arrested the five thugs, Kuroko continued on her patrol, which for the most part was uneventful, mostly scolding young children who were wandering up and down dark, deserted alleys. As she made her way back into the Judgement Office where Uriharu was waiting for her, typing away at reports on her computer.

"Hey Uiharu…" Kuroko sighed as she walked in, throwing some of her hair out of her face. Uiharu gave her a kind smile in return.

"Rough day, huh?" She asked, leaning back in her chair a little. Kuroko huffed a bit and shook her head.

"I could have been shopping with Onee-sama, but instead I got stuck dealing with thugs." She groaned, sitting down and lifting her shirt up a bit to look at her bandages to make sure they hadn't been broken open again. By the looks of it, she'd gotten fairly fortunate despite the brawl. She slid her shirt back down and emptied her pockets out, getting ready to get settled in to do her reports when a small vial rolled onto the table.

"Oops… I meant to give that to Anti-Skill." Kuroko sighed, grabbing on to the vial. Uriharu peaked around her monitor at Kuroko, blinking at the vial.

"Can I see that, Shirai-san?" Uiharu asked, offering her hand to Kuroko, who placed the small vial in the girl's hand. "Hmm…" She looked it over carefully, before looking to Kuroko once more.

"This sounds like a guess out of left park, and I know it's kind of unlikely, but.. the color of this liquid is just off of the copper color tone." She said, placing it down onto the table. Kuroko gave her an entirely incredulous look.

"You don't think that this vial is the neurotoxin that Onee-sama was poisoned with, do you? I mean, what are the odds that I would find something like that on some random street thug, that makes absolutely no sense." Kuroko objected, looking down at the vial with a raised eyebrow.

Uiharu gave a slight helpless shrug in response. "It just kind of struck me as I looked at the color. I mean, it's just a guess. Maybe we should see about interrogating that Skill-Out thug? He probably knows what he's carrying. I know it's a long shot, but I think it's worth a look." Uiharu said, looking straight at Kuroko who looked up from the vial to her.

"I mean…" Kuroko sighed. "I need to turn it in anyway, I'll just stop by Anti-Skill and ask them about it. I seriously doubt that we'd get THAT lucky." Kuroko said, snatching up the vial. "I'll be back soon." She nodded to Uiharu, who returned the nod as Kuroko teleported out of the building.

* * *

Kuroko made her way into the Anti-Skill HQ with the vial in hand, somewhat frustrated with Uiharu. She was already edgy because of what happened with Onee-sama and their dorm and that nightmare-generated thunderstorm, the last thing she needed was to start becoming paranoid. She approached the front counter, giving a polite greeting to the officer at the desk.

"Good evening, I wanted to ask if you still had five Skill-Out gang members I arrested earlier today. I had some questions I wanted to ask them." She began, reaching into her pocket. "You se-" She began to continue but the officer cut her off.

"Well, we have the four of them." The man said, frowning a bit. "I'm afraid that one of the members was found in his cell having suffered from some kind of heart failure." He provided. "I didn't catch his name, but he was in a red hoodie when he arrived here. Looked fine when we took him to lock-up, we're still looking into the matter now, so I'm afraid that we can't allow you access to the rest."

Kuroko had paused mid-way through her action to grab the vial, her mind racing as the officer provided her with this information. No… What were the odds? All of this just seemed… far too suspicious. The one person she wanted to talk to winds up having mysteriously died? And what if the vial really WAS the neurotoxin? What were the odds that SHE would be the one to find such a vial on a random Skill-Out thug, one of the few people it may have affected? She blinked as she looked up at the officer, giving him a fake smile.

"Oh, I see. Well, I'm very sorry to hear that. Thank you for your time." She said, turning and teleporting away before the officer could get another word out edgewise. She was going to keep that vial for now. This was… all far too suspicious.

As she made several teleports, she called Uiharu. "Uiharu, you there?" She asked over her earpiece.

"Yes, Shirai-san?" Uiharu replied, the sound of keystrokes heard in the background.

"The Skill-Out gang member suffered some form of heart failure. He's dead." She said, landing on the street and walking quickly. There was momentary silence on the other end.

"Shirai… the odds of-" She began, Kuroko quickly replying.

"I know. Practically impossible if this vial really IS what we think it is. Do me a favor, let me walk you home tonight and… actually, see if you can stay at Saten's tonight. Something feels… off." She said, receiving another round of silence from Uiharu.

"...OK. I can do that, Shirai-san." She said quietly, a trace of nervousness in her voice. Kuroko let out a slight sigh of relief. A thousand questions rattled around in her head, a thousand suspicions, and one primary concern.

"Uiharu… see what you can dig up based on what we know of a copper-based neurotoxin, OK? We might just be letting out imaginations get away from us." She said, with an assurance in her voice.

"On it. See you when you get here." Uiharu went to work, her voice cutting off.

Kuroko vanished off the street as she made her way back. She had a mystery to delve into.


	6. Chapter 6 - Mikoto

Mikoto ran out of the Judgement office and hummed as she made her way toward the shopping mall once again. Her thoughts were constantly rocking back and forth from the interest of shopping, with the occasional concern for Kuroko. With all her injuries, was she really fit to be back doing Judgement work? And... when was she ever THIS worried about Kuroko? Kuroko was a big girl, she could handle herself.

Her thoughts were derailed as she almost tripped over someone on the ground, looking down to see a very odd sight. A pretty young girl on all fours, sniffing at the air like a hound.

"Um, Saten...san?" Mikoto said, looking down at her friend with some concern. Saten blinked and jumped up, smiling at Mikoto. She had the biggest grin on her face.

"Hey, Misaka-san!" She grinned brightly. "Are you out treasure hunting too?" She asked, reaching into her pockets and pulling out some envelopes. "I've already got 4!" She said proudly. "I guess my nose is good for things of monetary value."

Mikoto could only let out a slight laugh at the statement. "W-well, actually I was-" She began, but Saten's excitement would not be undercut by any objections.

"Oh! I smell some more! Come on!" She snatched Mikoto's hand and pulled her along into another alley, racing off for more treasure hunting with her kidnapped victim in tow.

* * *

The sun was setting in no time, and with a wave of goodbye, Saten tore off, leaving a stunned Mikoto with a handful of cash card envelopes.

"What do I even do with these? It's not like I need money..." She said, staring at the envelopes with a sort of dismayed expression. Her thoughts were cut off as she heard some rough voices down a nearby alley talking rather loudly.

"I swear it, I saw this creepy bitch planting those cards! I followed her to that old office building a few blocks down, she must have more there!" He said loudly, to the affirmation of some of his friends.

"Alright then..." Said an authoritative voice. Mikoto slid up to the wall, listening in on the conversation. "We'll head on over there, and take them all." He said with a kind of statement like he'd made some grand declaration. Mikoto rolled her eyes. The group's footsteps told her they were moving along, and not one to let some punks beat on some girl, she quickly scaled the alley walls, sticking to them with electromagnetism until she got to the top, dashing along the rooftops to keep an eye on these thugs. She followed them all the way to some abandoned building, watching them enter into the building. As they left her sight, she hopped down, walking down the side of the building before leaping onto the ground and quietly making her way up the stairs behind them. She stopped as she got to the top of the flight, pressing herself against the wall and closing her eyes.

Mikoto sighed as she sent out electromagnetic waves from her body, letting them bounce around the hall and into the adjacent room. She saw the four thugs, as well as a tall, thin woman. Well, taller than her, at least. She couldn't quite make out the conversation, forcing her to scoot closer, if only out of idle curiosity.

What she got to witness was rather glorious. One by one, she taunted and tormented the thugs, claiming a bold power to kill with a touch, turning the lights off and going after each in turn, tapping them with her hand- Mikoto could sense the tiny metal object she had on her wrist that she suspected was the culprit behind her ability to make them pass out with just a single tap. As the last thug hit the ground, Mikoto decided to come out of hiding, walking into the threshold of the doorway, clapping in applause.

"Very impressive! Spooking them with creepy acting and bluffs, and a nice little needle!" She grinned with a wink, pointing at the metal needle that the girl was peeling off her wrist. She turned to look at Mikoto, staring at her with a dark gaze that made the esper a little uncomfortable.

"You're the Original, aren't you?" She said, continuing her creepy stare. Mikoto's heart skipped a beat for a moment.

"...Huh?" She blinked, questioning if she'd heard the woman right. "Original...?"

"Surely you've heard the rumors, at the very least?" The woman asked her, tilting her head at her a bit.

Mikoto shifted uncomfortably, and she felt her heart starting to pound in her chest. "Rumors? You don't mean..."

* * *

Some weeks earlier...

Mikoto walked along her usual route to school, passing by various students of one school or another, hearing their rumormongering and gossiping.

"Did you hear? They say there is a clone of the Railgun running around!" They whispered, not noticing Mikoto's presence.

"I heard they were being used for the military." Another whispered, equally oblivious.

Mikoto ignored them, rolling her eyes. How stupid could rumors get?

"That's definitely Misaka-san..." She heard a voice say, causing her to look up at the source of the voice, some girls from her school.

"Hm? You called me?" She asked, looking at the two girls, both who jumped in alarm.

"O-oh, sorry! She probably just misjudged what she saw! Someone in town looks a lot like you, I think!" The girl was nervous, but Mikoto found herself just shrugging it off...

* * *

Present...

Mikoto lunged at the woman,grabbing her by the shoulders. "You know something about those rumors?!" She asked loudly. She'd given them no real weight weeks earlier, but they had started to resurface in her mind once those nightmares came about. Could they be-

Her line of thought was cut off by a hard bonk on top of her head by a schoolbag held by the high school girl she'd just grabbed. Mikoto crouched down, holding onto her head.

"You're in middle school, I'm in high school. Respect the age difference." She said, pointing between them with a serious look on her face- which was really the only expression she'd seen from the girl so far.

Rubbing her head, Mikoto readjusted her manners. "You... you wouldn't happen to know anything about those rumors, would you?" She asked softly, rubbing her head a bit.

"More than you do, though it is far different than when I was involved..." She said cryptically, before looking to her once more. "Knowing any more will do you no good, and bring you nothing but pain. There is nothing you can do with your power." She said dismissively.

Mikoto jumped up angrily. "Hey! I'm asking you what you know! What do you mea-" She was cut off by a solid roundhouse kick to the rubs, causing her to fall over clenching her stomach. "Ow..." She hadn't met someone who cared this much about high school to middle school age difference before.

"You can do nothing. I can also do little more than nothing." She said flatly, putting her hands behind her back. "The cash cards help cover this city with eyes everywhere, covering blind spots, disrupting the experiments... but I fear it will do little good in the end." She mused, walking over to a desk and pulling out some papers. "Sadly, I was careless." She said pulling out a lighter and igniting the thick pile of notes. She repeated this process as she tossed more papers into the fire. Mikoto leaped up, grabbing her shoulder again.

"Wait! Uh, please! I just need to-" She stopped mid-sentence as the high school girl pointed down at the growing bonfire she'd just made. Only one word came to Mikoto's mouth.

"Fuck."

* * *

"Stupid, arrogant, fish-eye..." Her insults trailed off as she dashed from the building after tossing the four thugs into a pile outside of it, have successfully sneaked away from the arson. "Saying a bunch of random shit... Fine. I recognized her uniform. I'll just..." She dashed over to a comm terminal, sliding inside and pulling out her PDA. "It'll be easy to hack in with my power." She said, plugging a wireless connector into the terminal and opening her PDA, focusing her mind as she controlled the electricity through the net, weaving through it like it was her home, pushing past security measures like they weren't even there.

"Gotcha!" She said with a big smirk, spotting the girl's distinct picture. "Nunotaba Shinobu... age 17. Third year." She muttered aloud to herself, scanning the information she'd just grabbed. "A genius in the field of bio-psychology, she resumed studies in her field after completing a contracted time at the... Seventh Medical Research Center?" She blinked in surprise. "That's... the facility for muscular dystrophy I helped out all those years ago with my DNA map..."

Mikoto leaned against the window of the terminal, putting a knuckle to her lips in thought. "If I go after that fish-eyed freak again, she'll probably just run off again." Mikoto snapped her PDA shut, sliding it into her pocket. "I'll just go take a look around there myself!" She said, stepping out, ready and willing to commit some breaking and entering! She paused about three steps from the terminal as she looked down at her clothes.

"Hmm... going in there with my uniform on might not be a good idea." She mused, looking up and spotting a convenience store. Running inside quickly, she grabbed some shelf-packaged clothing and took it to the counter, taking out some of those cash cards she'd gotten with Saten earlier in the day. "Guess that worked out well..." She mumbled as she left. It was probably best she not spend her personal funds on this.

Taking the time to rent out a hotel room to change in, the thought of renting a room just to change in never occurring to her to be a bit wasteful as the spoiled rich girl she didn't realize she was, she slipped on the t-shirt and shorts before moving to the balcony and sliding down the outside wall, sticking to it like a little electric spider. "Let's see what we find..."

* * *

Mikoto was crouching behind a wall near the gate, peeking around the corner at the security guard who was currently staring off into space while passively watching something on his portable TV. He periodically glanced around, but...

"Huh? What the... I just bought this thing!" He objected as Mikoto began to make the TV fizzle and static, creeping forward and around the guard station, granting the TV it's function back once she was out of eyeshot. She slipped past several security camera's and automatic doors without a sweat, her powers commanding them to simply ignore her presence.

She found a nicely secluded hallway with a support wall that she could hide behind, slipping up next to it and pulling out her PDA. Slipping the connected wire from it into a dataport, she started to sift through terabytes of data, looking for what she wanted.

"Hmm... Nothing really here of interest... Wait." She paused, narrowing her eyes, spotting one section of the security with power but completely locked out of both the LAN and the security network. "That's suspicious..." She murmured. "I'll go check that out firs-"

"Hey! Whose there!?" She heard a voice call out, and a light beam down the hallway in her direction. She froze and pressed herself against the wall.

 _Fuck. Crap. Shit. Fuck._ Was the rapid fire unladylike cussing that went through her head as she heard the guard approaching. Her mind raced as she considered what to do. She could knock him out, but he was just doing his job. She reached out her senses, looking for something, and saw her potential savior.

With a mechanical beeping sound, a security robot slid up to the security guard, unwittingly being controlled by Mikoto. Giving the guard the all clear report, it seemed like she may have finally gotten clear... and then the alarms went off.

 _FUCK._

Mikoto was not having a good night. _That couldn't have been me, could it? No, it shouldn't detect me! But... Yes!_

She willed the security robot to spin rapidly on the spot, and then dash down the hall, surprising the security guard and giving her the opportunity to leap out from her hiding spot and into the nearby stairwell, quickly running up the stairs toward where she'd seen that mystery lab was. She wasn't sure what had caused the alarm to go off, but it may be the opportunity she needed.

* * *

Mikoto slipped into the lab with some caution, the alarm having put her on edge. A quick look around showed that it was some kind of observation control room or something similar. Looking through a large window that covered an entire wall, she spotted what appeared to be several pods connected to a large amount of cables and piping, all mounted into the walls.

"Incubation pods...?" She frowned, a bead of sweat sliding down her forehead. They were the right size for a person...

 _No, no. I can't let myself get freaked out._

Stepping forward, she moved toward the computer, easily breaking her way in. "Let's see what we can find here..." She muttered as she began searching. "Looks like they tried to delete it all. But I can restore it, I think..." She continued her work, trying not to dally.

"There, that should do..." She trailed off as the first report she wanted came on screen. It felt like her heart stopped.

RAILGUN MASS PRODUCTION PLAN

"SISTERS"

FINAL REPORT

Mikoto stared with eyes as wide as saucers, her body trembling, breaking out into a cold, panicked sweat. With a nervous, shaking hand, she pressed a button and resumed reading.

'THIS PROJECTS PURPOSE IS TO UNCOVER THE DNA PROGRAMMING PATTERNS REQUIRED TO PRODUCE LEVEL 5 ESPERS EN MASSE.

THE END GOAL TO CREATE A PROCESS THAT CAN GUARANTEE LEVEL 5'S THAT HAVE PREVIOUSLY BEEN SUBJECT PURELY TO CHANCE OF BIRTH.

THE PROJECT'S ORIGINAL SUBJECT IS THE "RAILGUN" MISAKA MIKOTO.'

Misaka felt physically ill. She grabbed at the edge of the computer to balance herself, breathing deep and fast.

 _It... It did exist. They were...cloning me._

'IN ORDER TO CREATE THE "SISTERS" A FERTILIZED EGG WAS PREPARED FROM SOMATIC CELLS OBTAINED FROM A HAIR SAMPLE ACQUIRED FROM MISAKA MIKOTO.

ALTHOUGH THE PROCESS WAS DIFFICULT, THE NECESSARY DNA WAS OBTAINED THROUGH THE ASSISTANCE OF A NEGOTIATOR WHO CONVINCED THE RAILGUN TO PART WITH HER DNA MAP, AND ADD IT INTO ACADEMY CITY'S "BANK".'

 _It was then... They said it was to help people!_ Mikoto's heart pounded with a sense of betrayal and sickening rage, her breath still short as she forced herself to continue reading.

'IN ORDER TO SHORTEN THE TIME REQUIRED TO OBTAIN THESE SISTERS, A SERIES OF GROWTH HORMONES AND CHEMICAL ALTERATIONS WERE MADE TO ACCELERATE THEIR GROWTH TO APPROXIMATELY 14 YEARS OF AGE IN A MATTER OF 15 DAYS, WITH THE USAGE OF TESTAMENT TO DEVELOP THEIR MINDS TO AN APPROPRIATE LEVEL.'

 _"That was their goal from the START?!"_ She grabbed at her shirt where her heart was, feeling like it may burst out of her chest. "Damn them... damn them!" She panted hard, forcing her eyes up at the screen again.

'AFTER CONFIRMING THE VIABILITY OF THE PROCESS OF MASS PRODUCTION OF THE "SISTERS", THE PLAN MOVED TO THE NEXT PHASE TO BEGIN CONSTRUCTION OF THE SUPPORT STRUCTURE THAT WAS NEEDED FOR THE "SISTERS".

HOWEVER.

IN THE FINAL STAGES OF THE PROJECT, A DEVASTATING AND UNFORESEEN COMPLICATION AROSE AFTER SIMULATIONS RUN VIA TREE DIAGRAM.

THE SPECS OF THE SISTERS DID NOT EVEN REACH 1% OF THE ORIGINAL "RAILGUN". ON AVERAGE, THE VARIOUS SPECS FOR EACH SUBJECT CAME OUT TO ROUGHLY LEVEL 2, AND EVEN OUTLIERS NEVER ROSE ABOVE LEVEL 3.'

 _They could only create weaker versions of me? Would that even be worth the effort..._

DESPITE THE DNA MANIPULATION AND EXPERIMENTATION DONE, IT HAS BEEN DEEMED IMPOSSIBLE TO CREATE A LEVEL 5 ESPER THROUGH CURRENTLY EXISTING METHODS.

HAVING RECEIVED THIS PREDICTION FROM TREE DIAGRAM, AND TO REDUCE FURTHER LOSSES, THE COMMITTEE ORDERED AN IMMEDIATE CECESSATION OF RESEARCH.

THE RAILGUN MASS PRODUCTION PLAN "SISTERS" WAS FROZEN INDEFINITELY. RESEARCH DATA WILL BE DEALT WITH ACCORDING TO PREVIOUSLY ESTABLISHED PROTOCOLS...

Mikoto took a step back from the computer before collapsing onto her knee's, grabbing hold of the chair next to her for balance, before a nervous, almost giddy, laugh escaped from her lips.

"There... there weren't any clones after all. That stupid rumor was probably made because something leaked about this insane project... that had to be it." She laughed, pulling herself off of the floor on weak knee's. "Gave me chills to think they were considering using my DNA map for something like that... Still. No use dwelling on the past." She sighed, walking to the exit, her knee's still a bit weak.

"Time to get out of here." She said with pure relief, running off down the hallway, and back to the dorm, hoping she could sneak in past the dorm supervisor.

Time to get back to her life.


	7. Chapter 7- Kuroko

Uiharu was tapping away at the keys in front of her as she gazed into the computer screen, Kuroko looking over her shoulder while rolling the vial of coppery substance in her hand near her face, occasionally glancing at it. Uiharu had been searching through Academy's City databases, bypassing firewalls, and doing all sorts of computer work that Kuroko admittedly did not understand, but trusted Uiharu to work out. Until she did, Kuroko didn't have much to do.

Pulling out her phone, she began to write a text to the one person in her address book named "Onee-Sama 3", smiling just a little.

'Hey, there's this really nice seafood place that gets to go orders over on Akibana! Can you pick us up some calamari? I heard it's really good! My treat, I'll pay you back! 3" Kuroko sent that text over, smiling a little. Until she had a better idea what was going on… a part of her thought it might be a good idea to change up where they eat.

"Got it!" Came Uiharu's voice, prompting Kuroko to pocket her phone into her skirt and lean forward over Uiharu's shoulder once more, looking at the screen.

"It looks like this is actually something that was reported to Academy City's Bank as a potential drug for use with the Power Curriculum Program." Uiharu explained, pulling up a variety of different windows on the screen. Kuroko raised an eyebrow at that. The Curriculum, the social and educational program used to develop Esper powers, used a great deal of different drugs and procedures, but this struck her as somewhat odd.

"What happened after they submitted it?" Kuroko asked, leaning one hand into the table. Uiharu tapped away at her computer some more before scowling.

"...Nothing. They requested an indefinite hiatus pending… 'unrelated facility inspection by parent company'. And then just never requested the hiatus get lifted." Uiharu looked as baffled as Kuroko at that. They stared at the screen for awhile before Kuroko pushed off from the desk and walked over to her own, pulling a drawer out and withdrawing a bag. Uiharu gave her a questioning look as Kuroko swung the bag over her shoulder, tightening the strap.

"Something is going on, and I'm going to go find out. No random thug of Skill-Out gets their hands on a proprietary piece of drug manufacturing and just walks around with it in their pocket. What was the name of this place?" She asked Uiharu who blinked and then looked again.

"Uh… Shinasame University DNA Map Analytical Laboratory." She read off, before looking to Kuroko once more. "Are you… going to break in?" She asked, sounding shocked that Kuroko would even consider such an act.

"No. I am going to teleport in. Breaking implies property destruction." Kuroko took a deep breath and moved toward the door. "You don't need to involve yourself if you don't want to. If I get caught, this is on me." She said, before walking out without another word.

* * *

Kuroko had left her earpiece in, even though she suspected that Uiharu would not help her. As she arrived at the facility in question, to her surprise, the com woke up to deliver her partners voice.

"If you can get to a computer terminal inside and insert your phones cable adapter, I should be able to access their database." She said, her voice sounding firm.

For a moment, Kuroko paused, before finally speaking. "Thank you, Uiharu." She said with no small amount of gratitude.

"What else are friends for?" Uiharu replied. "Now let's do this."

Kuroko gave herself a deep breath before she peeked through the bars of the gate, spotting camera's and some live guards, but overall, security did not seem overly tight… She looked up and saw a single window, vanishing from where she was and reappearing on the other side of it, hiding herself behind a pillar as she used a small mirror to look around the dark hallway for further security camera's. Uiharu was quiet on her end, as if holding her breath in tense anticipation. It only took a second of calculation for Kuroko to teleport to the next blind spot in the camera's, having spotted them with her mirror.

"Hey! Whose there!?" She heard a voice yell, a flashlight beaming past her. The guard couldn't see her- she was still hidden behind the pillar. She held her breath as she heard him approach, and just as he began to peek around the corner, vanished out of thin air and down the hall beneath the camera, leaping into a nearby room. Closing the door behind her as quietly as she could, she knelt down and watched the blurry window as it went from darkness, to the light of the passing guard's flashlight, to darkness once more.

"...Shirai?" Uiharu's voice came across the mic in the quietest possible whisper. It got Kuroko to smile a little.

"Uiharu, the earpiece soundwaves goes through my jawbone. You don't have to whisper." She said, turning to look around the room, using a penlight. "I found a terminal." She whispered. She slid over to it, pulling out the tiny USB plug from her phone's spindle cable and plugging it into the terminal. "It's connected." She whispered. After a few minutes of silence that got Kuroko's heart racing as the guard's made a second pass through the hall, Uiharu finally spoke up.

"I found some useful information, a map in particular, but this place has a section that is blocked off from the LAN…" Uiharu said, still in a quiet voice. "I can't find ANY mention of the neurotoxin in their system, so my only guess is that it'd be there." She added in.

Kuroko sighed a little. "Alright." And withdrew the plug from the terminal, opening the holographic display of her phone and looking at the map that Uiharu had just uploaded onto it. It was quite thorough, and as her eyes poured over it, she thanked her good fortune that it included things like dimensions of the various rooms and hallways. Her eyes scanned over it, searching for where she was, and then the empty spot where the blocked off room was.

"Never tried this before, but… don't have a lot of time. The longer I'm here, the more likely I am to get seen." She grumbled, focusing as she did the 11th dimensional calculations and vanished from where she was and reappearing just outside the door to this hidden room. She quickly looked around, looking for camera's to hide from while raising her hand to shield her face from being seen- to no purpose, as it seemed there was no camera's in this hallway.

"Why would they not have camera's in here? They went to such lengths to keep it isolated from the system…" Kuroko muttered over the coms, with Uiharu just making a concerned sound of thought on the other end. Leaning up against the door, Kuroko did some more calculations as she disappeared once again, finding herself in the room she sought. It was a fairly basic server room, attached to what appeared to be a very sturdy looking locked storage unit. The storage unit had transparent glass looking inside, prompting Kuroko to look through it, seeing three rows of shelving covered in thousands of vials. Scowling, she moved over to where a large computer terminal lay waiting, plugging in the USB plug as she did the last time.

"Alright, do your magic, Uiharu-san." Kuroko said, stepping away and letting Uiharu do her work as she paced through the room, her thoughts a bit of a mixed bag.

 _What am I doing? I'm literally breaking the law. I could get thrown out of Judgement for this, I could be arrested._

She took the earpiece off and rubbed her face with one hand as she breathed evenly to calm down. "I'm doing this… for Onee-sama." She said quietly to herself, stating the obvious, but realizing the implications. "…If it's for her… I'll do anything. I know she'd do the same for me." She took a deep breath and put the com back into her ear just in time for Uiharu to speak up.

"Found it! It's… weird. Look at the screen." Uiharu said, Kuroko doing as she said and moving to the terminal, looking at what was in front of her. Her eyes scanned over documents and boring inventory information, and she frankly didn't see anything that stood out to her.

"What am I looking for, Uiharu?" She asked, not seeing it. Uiharu sighed on the other end of the coms, and the screen began to spring to life on its own as Uiharu took control of it.

"The inventory logs have been modified, twice. Both times, by the same account, and both times involved the copper-based neurotoxin. I see two dates… About four weeks ago, just a bit before Misaka-san started getting nightmares, and yesterday, which had a massive amount taken out and then altered to show a zero change in inventory. The account name is… Indigo. Huh…" She trailed off, prompting Kuroko to raise an eyebrow.

"Something the matter?" She asked, waiting.

"Indigo is also the name on the proprietary request for the neurotoxin, and the hiatus request, and they seem to be the individual who helped chair the project too." Uiharu replied, the sound of tapping keys heard across the mic.

"Got anything on this mysterious person? I mean, what kind of name is Indigo…" She wondered aloud.

"Yes... no." Uiharu said, her voice sounding shocked. "His entire profile in their database has been corrupted. No picture, no hiring dates or… anything. The database antivirus quarantined it, but not before the damage was done. The upload happened… six hours ago?" Uiharu sounded surprised. "And it was uploaded from THAT terminal!"

Kuroko scowled, and she felt every warning bell in her head going off. "I'm leaving now." She said suddenly, grabbing the USB cable and pulling it out, pocketing her phone and teleporting out of the room, skipping through several rooms before landing outside the gate and dashing off.

This sealed it. Someone was out for Mikoto, someone smart enough to cover their tracks. And she was going to bring them down.


	8. Chapter 8 - Mikoto and Kuroko

Mikoto shielded her eyes as she stared up into the treeline of the park, the sunlight shining through the leaves of the tree's above her, a smile spread across her face as she savored the hot light.

"Man, this heat is killer in our uniforms… but I guess it wouldn't be summer if it wasn't, huh?" Mikoto said cheerfully, looking over at her roommate with a big smile.

Kuroko was… off balance. Her Onee-sama had been incredibly cheerful since they'd woken up this morning- Kuroko had no idea at what time she'd sneaked back into their dorm room past curfew- and while it was nice to see, she'd been a bit gloomy ever since the incident in their dorm room, the sudden change was kind of jarring.

Honestly, it's like she's on something… Kuroko thought to herself, frowning a little but blinking to attention as Mikoto gave her a look with a tilted head.

"Sorry, did you say something Onee-sama?" She asked, smiling at Mikoto cheerfully. Mikoto just smiled at her again.

"I asked if you wanted a drink! My treat!" She said, hopping over to the vending machine and fishing out money.

Wait, MONEY?! Kuroko's eyes went wide at that. She wasn't just gonna kick the machine for the drinks like she usually did?! And she was going to treat her to a drink?!

"O-oh! Yeah, I'll have an iced coffee!" Kuroko began to run up to join her, tripping over an upturned tile in the road, falling forward right into Mikoto's chest, who caught her before she slipped away.

"S-sorry! I didn't mean to put my face on your-!" she was cut off by Mikoto rubbing her roommates head a bit, smiling at her.

"I know, I know, no worries." She grinned, helping Kuroko regain her footing and turning to the vending machine to get their drinks. Kuroko could only place a hand to the spot on her head where Mikoto had petted her, staring at her with a flabbergasted look. She wasn't even sure how to respond to such a warm and kind and forgiving Onee-sama, this was just… so bizarre.

Kuroko was shaken out of her thoughts by a cold feeling on her forehead, jumping and looking up to see a Mikoto holding an iced coffee against his forehead, which she accepted with an off-put smile.

"Are you feeling OK, Onee-sama?" Kuroko asked her as Mikoto walked over and took a seat on the bench, popping open her melon soda.

"I feel great." She said, grinning and looking up again, drinking at her soda. When she looked down once more, Kuroko was face to face with her, leaning forward and pressing her hand against Mikoto's forehead. Kuroko's face was one of deadly seriousness and concern.

"You don't seem to have a fever…" She muttered, and the sudden proximity and somewhat innocent and concerned skin contact causing Mikoto to blush.

"I'm fine! W-why are you checking my temperature!?" She said, pulling her head back, prompting Kuroko to stand up straight.

"Onee-sama, you've been… just so cheerful all of a sudden. It overjoys me to see it, but it was just so shocking after how much you've gone through the past few weeks!" Kuroko said, sitting down next to Mikoto a few feet away from her, pouting a little. "I was just worried."

Mikoto blinked and rubbed her head a bit. "I guess I just got out of a gloom I was going through and kind of got high on the emotions." She said, smiling a bit. "Thank you, Kuroko." She said honestly, smiling to her. "I really should be checking more on you than you on me. How are your injuries?" She asked, looking down at Kuroko's belly area where she knew there was a bandage beneath her uniform.

"I'm healing just fine." She said with a smile, patting her belly lightly. "Though if you wanna take a closer look-" She began with a lecherous grin, grabbing on the edge of her shirt and starting to pull it up slowly, to which Mikoto quickly turned in her seat away from Kuroko, huffing.

"F-Forget I said anything!" She said, returning to her drink. Kuroko was hit with a mixture of relief and slight disappointment, but mostly relief. Onee-sama seemed just fine. Kuroko finished off her coffee and put the can down, sliding over and hugging Mikoto from behind, prompting the girl to tense suddenly in surprise.

"Thank you, Onee-sama…" Kuroko said quietly, pressing against Mikoto's back. "It means a lot to me that you are so concerned for my well-being." Kuroko said quietly, resting her head against the back of Mikoto's neck.

Mikoto didn't know how to respond. She was embarrassed, and her usual way of maintaining her rough and tough exterior to Kuroko was by shocking her a little, but even the thought of that filled her with guilt these days. She just couldn't bring herself to do it. And as a result… her mind simply began to process the current situation, and all she got was scrambled and confused emotions.

"H-hey, Kuroko." Mikoto spoke up, trying to respond to her current situation. "How… uh… how was the coffee?" She asked awkwardly, a moment of pause in the air at the sheer level of absurdity that question had in the current moment. Kuroko burst out laughing.

"Oh, Onee-sama…" She leaned back and off Mikoto, allowing the flustered girl a moment to exhale. "It was very good, thank you." She said, hopping off the bench. "Here, give me your can, I'll throw it out." She offered, to which Mikoto complied. Kuroko walked over to the trash can, and just as she was lowering it in, paused. Instead she focused, and teleported both of them into her bag. What if… no, she'd just check. It'd be fine.

She hopped on back over to the bench where Mikoto had stood up, brushing her hair out of her face. "Want to go for a walk?" She asked, her face still slightly tinged red.

Kuroko offered her a warm smile in return. "I'd like nothing more."

* * *

Mikoto was sitting at a small table in one of the many cafes in the School Garden, sipping some tea as she waited.. She was lost in her thoughts, staring into her cup of tea. Yesterday, her and Kuroko had walked around town, and honestly not talked all that much. There was even an hour of time that had stretched by without a word. And somehow…

It was at that moment that she realized that a hand was waving in front of her face. She blinked her eyes open and looked up at Saten, dressed in a pretty frilly blouse and black pants, smiling at her.

"Earth to Misaka-san." She said with a grin, getting an embarrassed laugh from Mikoto in return.

"Sorry, I was kind of lost in my thoughts." She rubbed the back of her head.

"I could tell."

Saten took a seat across from her, smiling still. She called a server over and ordered some tea as well. She then turned her attention to Mikoto fully, a somewhat serious look on her face.

"Alright, what's up? You know I love to hang out with you, but I could tell from the phone call- and the fact that you asked Uiharu to invite Kuroko out- that something is up." She said, causing Mikoto's eyes to widen as her genius misdirection to get away from Kuroko was seen through so easily. She thought it was genius at least.

"W-well… yesterday, Kuroko and I were just walking around yesterday, hanging out, you know. It was normal. But…" She trailed off, looking to the side and puffing herself up a bit, as if to maintain her normally rough and confident demeanor. Saten just took a sip of her tea, seemingly waiting for Mikoto to continue. Somehow, this just made Mikoto more internally agitated.

"I… I don't think I wanna talk about this, actually." Mikoto finally said, grabbing her tea again and putting on a slightly huffy expression, sipping it. Saten sipped her own tea and stared at her for a moment. "What?" Mikoto asked, a little sharper than she intended.

Saten tapped her chin for a second before answering. "You know, ever since I met you, one thing I've always admired is that when you face down any danger, you don't back down. You have this astounding power that most can never dream of ever having. It even drew me down a dark place one time, as you know." Saten began, causing Mikoto to flinch as she recalled the Level Upper incident that had left Saten in a brief coma.

"I've seen you face down a giant mech while riding on top of a sports car going well 200 kilometers per hour. You didn't even flinch, you took it head on, and you won. You were amazing." She said, smiling at Mikoto who flushed a little at the praise.

"Yeah? And?" She asked, trying to remain huffy, which Saten seemed to just shrug off.

"And right now you're feeling emotions you haven't explored before and you can't just blast it away with a shot from your railgun. And I think that scares you." She finished, sipping her tea a bit. Mikoto sat silently, staring at Saten for a moment, imitating a fish as her mouth opened and closed several times. She began to puff up as she fell back on her stand-by for hard to process emotions; getting angry. Saten cut her off.

"You don't have to say anything. You invited me out here. It's really flattering that you even considered talking to me about it." She said, smiling brightly to her, knocking all the wind out of Mikoto's anger-sails. Mikoto deflated in her seat, thrown extremely off-balance.

"Are you sure you're the same Saten-san who flips Uiharu's skirts and raves on about urban legends?" Mikoto asked in a bit of a mumble, earning a laughing from Saten.

"Well, I cheated. After I found out about you asking Uiharu to invite Kuroko out, I called my Mom, she's a licensed therapist." Saten said, still laughing a bit. "She had some good advice she'd given me once before."

"...So… what do you think I should do?" She asked, hoping that Saten's surprising insight wouldn't require her to elaborate anymore on what was going on, lest she die from the embarrassment of expressing her emotions.

"Well. For as long as I've known you and Shirai, Shirai has never been shy about expressing how she feels about you, and as far as I know, you've never reciprocated. Shirai has put everything she's got on the table, Misaka-san." Saten said, putting her tea down and smiling.

"I don't know how you feel, exactly. And neither will Shirai. Whatever you're feeling, whether it's something fleeting, just deep friendship, or something else… why not just try putting it on the table your own way?"

* * *

Kuroko had been relieved when Uiharu had called her. She had been trying to think of an excuse to go see her without it seeming suspicious. She didn't want her Onee-sama to think she was up to something foul with those cans from their drinks, she really just wanted to be cautious!

"Hey, Shirai-san!" Uiharu's cheerful voice greeted her as Kuroko walked into the Judgement office where Uiharu was packing up her belongings into her bag. "I was just finishing packing up."

"Hello Uiharu. No trouble. You said you wanted to talk to me about something?" She asked, smiling to her partner.

"Yes! I wanted to know how Misaka-san was doing, and how you were doing. You both haven't been out of the hospital long, y'know!" Uiharu grinned. "Maybe we can get some lunch together?"

Kuroko had been a little surprised by the topic, but after both had transitioned to the local diner they often visited, she was happy to answer.

"I'm doing just fine, healing OK. So is Onee-sama… though…" Kuroko trailed off, looking a bit troubled.

"Shirai-san?" Uiharu called to her, tilting her head curiously.

"She's been different. I don't think I've gotten shocked even once since we've left the hospital. And as enjoyable as her shock is often-" Kuroko cut herself off as she saw Uiharu's face turn a shade more akin to a brick than skin. "-That is, she just seems a low more hesitant lately."

Uiharu drank from her water for a moment to cool herself off before speaking up. "W-w-well, do you think something is bothering her?" She asked. Her cell phone, which was on the table to the side since both her and Kuroko needed them nearby in case Judgement needed them, vibrated. She took a second to peek at the phone quickly to be sure it was nothing serious while Kuroko seemed to be pondering her question. Uiharu's eyes lit up for a moment and her face blushed a little more before she put her attention back to Kuroko, who had spotted the look and raised an eyebrow.

"Just Saten-san texting me about my- you know…" She said, sighing loudly, too embarrassed to even admit that Saten was likely texting her about her undergarments again.

"Well, to answer your question, it's possible, though today she seemed a lot happier. It was a very welcome surprise. She even let me hug her." Kuroko said, smiling a bit. "We spent hours walking afterward, it was splendid." Kuroko sighed longingly as she reflected on the memory.

"You know, I've never asked, and don't feel like you need to say anything, but… I always wondered. Assuming you're serious when you express your love for Misaka-san…" Kuroko gave Uiharu a shocked look of offense at the notion that Kuroko was anything but serious, prompting her to quickly continue. "...Why? I mean, no, that sounded wrong. I mean what prompted it? Like, I mean…" Uiharu blushed as she stumbled over her words, trying to avoid further offense.

Kuroko gave her a wistful smile. "...Sorry, Uiharu. Right now that's a story I can't tell." Kuroko said quietly, taking a drink from her water, leaving Uiharu a bit stunned by the sudden seriousness she got from her friend. "Maybe one day I'll win Onee-sama's love." She said, smiling into her drink. If she'd looked up, she'd have seen a metaphorical lightbulb flashing over Uiharu's head.

"Well, you haven't really given her the chance!" Uiharu said quickly, surprising Kuroko who looked up sharply, eyes a little wide.

"What are you talking about, I express my love unceasingly for Onee-sama!" She objected, taken aback by the sudden boldness of the normally shrinking violet that was Uiharu.

"Yes, but… It's Misaka-san! She's brave and forward and takes on challenges head-on! I've seen her face down a giant monster once! Maybe… maybe you need to give her the chance to be the one to express something." Uiharu suggested, wringing her hands together nervously.

Kuroko went from wide-eyed to incredibly contemplative, looking down into her lap with a hand on her chin. "I never thought of that… What could I do to give her that chance?" Kuroko pondered, looking incredibly serious.

"Just spend time with her. Don't give in to your urge to do something- give her a chance. I think it'll work out." Uiharu said, grinning brightly with all the optimism the girl of flowers could conjure.

Kuroko smiled in return, and for some reason, felt a surge of confidence.

* * *

Kuroko wanted her surge of confidence back now please.

Inviting Mikoto out to walk around town and go shopping had been easier than she had expected, but now that they were there, Kuroko was constantly second-guessing every idea she had, not wanting to seem like she was being pushy or anything of the sort. Mikoto was all smiles, and she seemed like she was having a good time as they flitted from shop to shop, browsing around.

Meanwhile, Mikoto, who had admirably kept her emotions internal, was screaming in her mind. Kuroko had been so tame today, and now… what was she supposed to do? Saten told her to 'put everything on the table' or something like that, and all Mikoto could think about was how she wasn't sure what she was supposed to be putting on this metaphorical table!

"Onee-sama?" Kuroko's voice cut through her thoughts, showing Kuroko holding up a nightgown that seemed her size. "What do you think of this? I think you'd look… you'd be really comfortable in it." She said, seemingly rephrasing her words at the last second.

"I'm not so sure it's really my style…" She said, rubbing her chin, to which Kuroko simply shrugged with a smile and put it back as they left the shop.

As they walked, Kuroko pondered what she might say to keep the date going. This was a date, right? Or was it just hanging out as friends? HOW COULD SHE TELL!?

It was at that moment that she realized she'd lost Mikoto, prompting her to look around for her and spot her by one of those little gashapon, capsule toy, machines. She had that look on her face that Kuroko knew all too well as she teleported back next to Mikoto.

"This… This one has a Gekota pin!" She said, her eyes alight with that collector's obsession. Kuroko could not help but give her Onee-sama a judgemental look.

"You're… you're going to spend all your money trying to get one of these, aren't you?" Kuroko asked her, staring down at Mikoto who was already holding up a bill from her wallet to Kuroko.

"Hurry! Go get me some change! I'll need it!" She said, turning the knob on the machine as she put money into it, beginning a process Kuroko was sure was gonna take awhile.

After a long, long time of messing with more gashapon machines than Kuroko ever wanted to see, with Kuroko giving away the capsules Mikoto did not want to passing children with a wistful sigh, Mikoto was standing on the sidewalk holding up her new Gekota pin with a teary-eyed joy that did not belong on a lady of her stature by Kuroko's measure.

Blinking back to Earth, Mikoto laughed as she pocketed the pin, turning to Kuroko who was giving her a bit of a exasperated smile.

"I don't understand your love of these things, but I'm glad it makes you happy, at least." Kuroko said to her, prompting the slightest blush from Mikoto. Mikoto stared at Kuroko for a moment, Saten's encouraging voice in the back of her mind. She stepped forward, opening her mouth to speak when two things happened.

Kuroko's phone rang, prompting her to answer it… and Mikoto felt something, causing her to turn and look around. She hadn't… discharged any of her power by accident did she? She felt like she'd felt… her own power just now. It caused her heart to pound in anxiety, and she didn't know why.

"Onee-sama?" Kuroko spoke up, Mikoto turning to face her. "That was Uiharu, she has a Judgement case she needs help with. I'm really sorry, but I have to go." She said, frowning deeply.

"O-oh, no worries! I'll see you tonight. Today was fun." She said, prompting a big smile from Kuroko as she waved farewell and teleported off.

Mikoto waited for a moment after Kuroko left before she dashed in the direction she had that feeling, up several flights of outdoor stairs, down several paths.

"It's just my imagination, it's just my imagination…" She repeated this mantra as she arrived at the spot she knew had that feeling and saw… an empty street.

"It… was nothing." She laughed, wiping some sweat from her brow, shaking her head. "I don't know what I was so worked up abou-" She stopped cold as she felt a presence. A presence far too familiar.

Her head began to turn slowly, her breath uneven as she looked at a tree, and next to the tree, the back of a goggle-wearing brunette in a Tokiwadai uniform. The brunette turned to face her, and Mikoto found herself staring at an emotionless mirror of herself.

They stared at each other, Mikoto's heart pounding in her ears, hands shaking as she asked a question.

"Who… are you?"


	9. Chapter 9 - Mikoto

A/N: Not dead! Just got sick with a weeks long migraine followed by a brand new job! Please read, enjoy, and let me know what you like so that I can provide more of it.

This has easily been the most challenging chapter for me, both for how much I had to cover, and it being the true turning point from canon in some ways.

Enjoy.

* * *

All Mikoto could hear was the pounding of her heart in her ears as she stared down her duplicate, her breathing uneven and labored, her body tense as she waited for the imposter to respond to her question. Every muscle grew tighter as the seconds crawled by waiting for a response, the tension causing her torment to rise within her-

"Mya~."

Mikoto stared, dumbstruck, at the woman who shared her face. She blinked several times. She just… she did not know how to respond, so her jaw just dropped as a confused sound escaped her mouth.

"Huh?" Was really all that could escape from her whirlpool of baffled thoughts. Her mind spun an endless amount of theories as to what the hell 'Mya' was supposed to mean. An agency? Name? Codeword? Did she even speak Japanese?

"...Said the four-legged creature, hiding up in the tree, Misaka explains." Came the response, the goggle-wearing Misaka pointing up at a tiny black cat in a tree branch. Mikoto was momentarily distracted, approaching the tree and looking up at the feline.

"A cat?" She muttered as she looked up, blinking in some mixture of confusion and flusterment.

"When Misaka passed down this road earlier…" Began a monotone voice, prompting Mikoto to look back at the source of the voice, which gave her another involuntary shudder up her spine as she looked like she saw a reflection of herself wearing weird goggles.

"Misaka noticed an infant had been left inside a parked vehicle. The Anti-Skill member present informed Misaka that the infant was at risk of heat-stroke, so, Misaka utilized her powers to undo the lock so that the infant might be aided." The girl droned on without a change in tone. "The four-legged creature was surprised by Misaka's utilization of her powers and ran up the tree. Now it is unable to climb down." She looked up into the tree. "Says Misaka as she carefully recounts the chronology of events."

"I see…" Mikoto said quietly as she also looked up into the tree at the black cat. She then blinked in alarm and swung around to face her mirror image. "You didn't answer my question! Who in the fuck ARE YOU!?" Mikoto yelled in her vulgar, unladylike manner.

"Oh. It appears the creature is in a more precarious predicament." The Goggle-Misaka said, prompting Mikoto to glance up and spot the cat having slipped and was now clinging to the branch with two paws. "Are you sure we should not rescue it?" She asked, turning to Mikoto again. "Misaka asks with a judgemental look on her face."

Mikoto felt a headache growing. "It's a cat, it can fall from that height without a prob-" Her protest was cut off abruptly.

"Misaka understands." Goggle-Misaka interjected. "What you're saying, Onee-sama, is that you do not care if the creature dashed itself against the ground, as it would have nothing to do with you if it sustained serious to terminal injuries that would end its vital organ function…" She trailed off, giving Mikoto a blank stare. "...Says Misaka, her judgemental and disappointed look at Onee-Sama growing more obvious."

Through the entire breakdown, Mikoto could only stumble over incoherent words as she tried to respond but as she felt her headache growing even more and an annoying scratching at the back of her head, she relented with a loud sigh.

"Fine… what exactly do you suggest we do?" Mikoto asked, scratching her head. She glanced around the area for a moment. "I don't see anything we can stand on…" She muttered, scowling a bit.

"If we take the following position…" Goggle-Misaka held up both her hands, curling one hand while sticking two fingers on the back of her hand, crudely making the shape of one person standing atop the back of another person. "We should be able to accomplish this task."

The next thing Mikoto knew, somehow she was on her hands and knees feeling a pair of feet on her back. Wait, why was SHE on the bottom!?

"A little to the left, Onee-sama." Came her own voice above her, prompting Mikoto to growl back in response.

"Are you fucking for real?!" She hissed at her for her unreasonable request. She felt the weight on her back shift and then a sudden sharp pain as she felt and saw the blur of movement of the other girl leaping off her back, forcing Mikoto's face into the dirt with a sharp pain in both her back and now her head from both the front of her head and the back of her head. This had not been good for her mounting headache.

She growled as she peeled herself off of the ground, groaning in pain as she looked up at the other girl.

"W-why you fuuuuhhh- EEEEK!" Her curse at the girl quickly cut off as she spotted the copy of herself holding the cat by using her skirt as pillow for it, by proxy flashing her underwear to the world, Mikoto's face burning for too many reasons for her to count.

"W-why are you flashing your skirt!? You're a maiden, an innocent maiden!" She yelled, pointing at her frantically and accusingly, flustered even more than before. Goggle-Misaka lowered her skirt as she let the cat down onto the ground, the black feline leaping onto the dirt.

"S-seriously, you c-can't go doing things like that while wearing MY face…" She trailed off as she heard the cutest little meow from her feet, Mikoto looking down and fighting the urge to squeal at the cuteness of the kitten.

"Up close, this kitten really is so cute…" Mikoto gushed a little as she bent her knees to get closer to the animal. Goggle-Misaka did the same, hugging her own legs as she tilted her head in a questioning manner.

"Kitten?" She asked.

"Yeah, it's a baby, so it's a kitten." She replied, a little incredulously, but far too distracted by the cute cat. "They're always so afraid of me…" Mikoto sighed, reaching her hand out toward the kitten as she saw Goggle-Misaka's questioning look. "They can't help but react to the electromagnetic field that emanates from my body." She said, the cat trembling a little and backing away.

"It seems Misaka is also disliked." Goggle-Misaka said as she reached toward the kitten, who had an identical reaction. A moment passed before Mikoto suddenly leaped up, letting out a loud, exasperated yell as she put her hands to her head.

"You STILL haven't answered me!" She ground her teeth in frustration as she dropped her arms down, feeling humiliated for letting a cat force her guard down. She spun around on Goggle-Misaka again, scowling at her.

"So. You." She said, scrounging up willpower. "Are you… are you my clone?" She asked in a demanding tone, her body tensing as she stared down her counterpart.

"Yes." Came the unhesitating, monotone, and painfully blunt response. Mikoto felt a wave of nausea pass over her to join her pounding headache and stinging back. She had prepared herself to argue, or fight, or struggle for an answer in some way, and being just… given the answer threw her completely off balance. She clenched her fists and focused on her anger to keep herself from getting thrown completely off.

"I thought that project had been shut down… why is a thing like you wandering around?" She asked in the same demanding tone, one hand moving to her own chest as she felt a sudden pain there the second she'd described her clone as a 'thing'. Why had that hurt to say? She pushed the thought out of her head and focused on the clone.

"ZXC741ASD852QWE963." Was the answer she got from her clone. Just a nonsensical series of numbers and letters. All Mikoto could do was blink at her and give her a flabbergasted expression.

"Huh?"

"As expected, Onee-sama is not affiliated with the projects. As such, Misaka cannot answer your query, Misaka says apologetically." Clone-Misaka said, her expression and her tone as monotone as it has been since Misaka had met her, which was further unnerving her. She clenched her jaw once again.

"Who is the Mastermind of this project?" She demanded.

"Classified."

"Why were you created?"

"Classified."

Mikoto felt her rage flare as she lunged at the girl, grabbing her arm and pulling her up and toward Mikoto, her other hand roughly grabbing the clone's shoulder, their faces close so the clone could see her enraged expression.

"Are you trying to piss me off? You want to get hurt? I CAN force this out of you." She said with all the intimidating bluster she could gather, glaring at the clone, who neutrally returned her anger with a kind of dazed monotone that caused a pang of guilt to briefly stab at her chest. After a moment of staring, she tutted in annoyance and shoved her clone away.

"Fine. Just go ahead, I'll be right behind you. I'll just follow you until you go back to your facility or research center or where ever the hell you are from. And when _I_ arrive, I'll grab your creator and get the answers I want." She declared, standing up straight and looking confidently at Clone-Misaka. The clone simply returned the gaze with that same chilling emotionless expression before she turned and walked on her way.

Mikoto followed her, but also took the chance to gather her confused and jumbled thoughts.

 _Sisters… I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it myself. I mean, ever since I heard these rumors, I feared that a clone might show up, but I never thought it was anything more than me just being irrationally afraid, especially after hearing the project shut down. But…_

Mikoto stared at the clone several feet in front of her who was, in turn, staring up at a passing butterfly with a slight agape mouth of dazed wonderment.

"This is… not what I expected." She said. If only Mikoto could see her own expression at that moment as she stared at her clone. Really, she expected something a lot darker, like some malevolent and diabolical clone seeking to assassinate her and replace her, taking over her life, not… whatever this was.

" _Wait… Sisters?!"_ Mikoto's eyes shot to the size of dinner plates as she had a dawning, horrifying realization, diving to grab at the clone's shoulder. "Hey! Don't tell me there's like 5 or even 10 of you guys!?" She said, grabbing the clone's shoulder.

"Hehehe… Stackcats, read it backwards and it is still Stackcats~" She said in a kind of dazed and slightly more singsong voice than her usual monotone, and the sheer goofiness of her behavior made Mikoto's temper flare up again, since this thing wasn't taking this seriously. And there was that sharp pain in her chest again, and that headache and scratching at the back of her head.

Mikoto found herself shouting and yelling at the clone, but felt like she was having an out-of-body experience of it all, her ears just filled with noise, ringing, and muttering. It was so distracting, so irritating, it just made her temper worse even when she couldn't even place what the words coming out of her mouth were.

The irritating ringing noise was interrupted as something broke her trance, another voice that caused her temper to burst.

"Hey, you twins over there! Fighting between sisters is no good." Said a deep male voice, prompting Mikoto to spin around and shout loudly in response.

"SHE'S NOT MY SISTER!" She nearly screamed, which amazingly enough didn't seem to faze the man at all. He was a large, burly man with short dark hair and a stubble, sitting behind the wheel of an ice cream truck.

"Hey now, don't ever say that, not even as a joke." He scolded, getting out of his ice cream truck. He smiled as he stepped over to the back of the truck, stepping in and out, a pair of ice cream cones in his hands that he offered to the two identical girls.

"Here, I've got a lot of pride in this product. Ice cream like this will help melt your frustrations away." He said, pounding a fist against his chest to make a show of his pride.

Mikoto stared at him with a kind of tired exasperation. "Now is really not he time for-" She didn't get to finish her sentence before her clone had begun to do nothing short of devour her ice cream while giving it a glowing critique through her somewhat full mouth that Mikoto barely even listened to, so done was she with this entire situation.

"Delicious, Misaka says with unrestrained praise for your craftsmanship." Clone-Misaka said, giving a thumbs up to the man who simply laughed and waved her compliments way with a thanks.

As the ice cream man departed from them with another comment that "You sisters make up now", Mikoto growled and tried to yell back.

"She's not my sist- oh, forget it… I guess it's a reasonable conclusion to come to…" She sighed, reaching her head down to lick at her ice cream and catching nothing but air. She blinked in confusion at the empty cone in her hand, glancing around until she spotted the clone with some mint choclate ice cream stuck to her face.

"HEY. You greedy little…" She growled, her expression one of a strained, angry grin. The clone glanced away from her in response.

"Misaka doesn't know what Onee-sama is referring to, Misaka says, feigning ignorance as she savors the aftertaste of mint chocolate in her mouth." Mikoto continued to growl at her with annoyance, her thoughts of how to respond cut off as the clone turned her attention to Mikoto once more.

"Misaka is somewhat chilly now, perhaps some tea would warm us up, Misaka suggests hoping for generosity from her Onee-sama."

Mikoto could only rub her head as she somehow found herself getting tea with her clone, getting caught up in the monotone whirlwind that was her duplicate. She found herself with her all day, constantly yelling at the clone for her shenanigans and passerby's who kept referring to them as twins.

"Stop…. Ugh, just... I give up…" Mikoto groaned as she leaned against the railing of a small bridge they currently both stood upon, the sun having gone down and the street lamps gone on. Her clone stood about ten feet from her, staring at her original, before turning and looking across the city's skyline that was laid out before them.

"Onee-sama." The clone spoke up once again, causing Mikoto to look up.

"Yeah?" She asked in return.

"What is that?" Clone-Misaka asked, pointing up into the sky. Mikoto turned and looked, seeing the enormous spire that seemed like it reached out into the heavens, so tall that it seemed to disappear. The Space Elevator; Endymion. Such impressive technologies that were decades ahead of the rest of the world was so commonplace in Academy City that Mikoto sometimes forget that these sights were actually amazing and awe-inspiring to most people.

"Oh… That's Endymion. It's a Space Elevator that the City has been building for several years now." She explained, both their eyes glued onto the enormous tower.

"..." The Clone stared for a moment. "How did they build it?" She asked, her brown eyes still glued on to the tower. Mikoto turned to stare at her clone for a moment, thrown a little off balance by the sudden curiosity.

"Well, I don't know the details, the whole project is kind of secretive, but… I know that they've been employing thousands of people and billions in yen to just get the project where it is now. Though you can't even see the top anymore." Mikoto said, looking up into the night sky where the top of the tower disappeared into the dark void of space.

"Will debris not destroy it? Misaka is aware there is a great amount of debris in orbit." She asked, still staring up.

Mikoto shook her head. "No, I heard they were installing all kinds of anti-debris weapons on it, like missiles and the like, to destroy large debris that could damage it." She replied without a moment of thought, the conversation starting to become… familial.

"How many died to make it?" Clone-Misaka asked after a moment of silence of staring into the sky. Mikoto blinked in surprise as she looked at the clone with raised eyebrows, the sudden shift in tone jarring her. That was an odd question, and a little morbid.

"Well… I don't know the exact number, but very few. I mean, most of the really dangerous stuff that has been up in the upper atmosphere has been done by drones and robots and the like. Here in Academy City, there's no real point in risking lives if you can just make something that can take that death for you, so to speak." Mikoto explained as she continued to stare up at the towering spire, taking a moment to soak in its overwhelming size.

"I see, Misaka says, understanding. Thank you, Onee-sama." Clone-Misaka said in reply, prompting Mikoto to look to her with a raised eyebrow. Her tone sounded somewhat strange. "Misaka will be headed to the experiments now, and will not be returning to base, so you will not be able to meet Misaka's creators this way."

"W-WHAT!?" Mikoto sputtered, her voice filled with a mixture of indignation and frustration. "Why didn't you say this before?!" She demanded, angrily.

"Because you did not ask." Clone-Misaka replied in a deadpan tone, her expression still as neutral as ever. Mikoto groaned and held her hand to her head as her migraine just seemed to worsen as it did all day.

Mikoto sighed as she fished into her pocket. "If you're not going to tell me anything, maybe if I use my PDA…" She began, pulling out her PDA from her pocket, which caused a metallic clink onto the ground as the tin Gekota pin fell out and rolled onto the sidewalk.

"Oh, I forgot I had that in my pocket…" Mikoto bent down and grabbed the tin pin, blinking as an idea struck her.

Rather suddenly, she bent over by her clone, attaching it to her identical clone's skirt. Her clone have her a questioning look, tilting her head. "What are you-" She began, to be cut-off by Mikoto.

"Just hold still… There!" She smiled as she stepped back, the frog-themed pin hanging from the skirt. She grinned at her handiwork, nodding. "Much better than a mirror, and it looks good!" Her clone waved her hand through the air with an expression that was somehow both monotone and judgemental.

"No, no, Misaka says, astounded by her Onee-sama's childish tastes." She said, Mikoto choking on air as she felt herself flush from embarrassment.

"It… It was just a joke." Mikoto said, her face red as she had her own tastes disparaged by her own clone. As she reached for the button, a slap at her hand knocked the grabbing appendage away, prompting her to blink as she looked up at the clone who'd slapped her hand away. She reached with her other hand, which was also slapped away. Rather suddenly, she found herself in a flurry of grabs at the button that were consistently met with slapping hands from Clone-Misaka, before Mikoto pulled both hands back with a yelp.

"What the hell!?" She barked at the clone, who held her hands out in a pseudo-karate like fashion as if defending herself from Mikoto's grabby hands.

"The moment you attached this pin to Misaka, ownership transferred to her. Onee-sama's behavior is akin to robbery." The clone explained in a level-headed tone, not allowing her hands to drop from the defensive stance.

"What kind of twisted logic is that!?" Mikoto asked, waving her hands in the air to try to cool them down after they'd been slapped who-knows-how-many times.

"Also this is…" Clone-Misaka trailed off, reaching down and touching the button. "...The first present I ever got from Onee-sama." She finished, staring down at it.

Mikoto found herself somewhat stunned by the statement, staring at the girl for what felt like an eternity, the cool night air blowing against her skin as the crickets chirped out around them. Her mind was a whirlpool of migraine pain and confused thoughts, as if she were unsure of what to make of that statement.

"I… Well, I think that's enough for today." Mikoto said, turning in place and waving a hand at the clone. She heard a shift in movement and a slight exhale of air from behind her, prompting her to turn around and look at the clone again. "Hm? Did you want to say something?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

"...No." The clone replied, staring at her in an inscrutable way. "Farewell, Onee-sama." She said with a sense of finality that bothered Mikoto, emotions she didn't really understand swirling through her mind, which she pushed away with a shake of her head.

"Uh, yeah, see ya later." She waved, turning and running off. She was uncertain if she was running from her clone, or the feelings the clone summoned in her mind.

* * *

Mikoto had slid to a stop at one of the street terminals, sliding into the threshold of the booth's door as she pulled out her phone and rapidly dialed up a number- Uiharu. After a few moments, she heard the click of the answered phone, followed by a familiar voice.

"Misaka-san? This is rare." She said, something about her tone sounding somewhat distracted.

"Hey Uiharu, sorry to call so late, but I was wondering if you knew anything about the following code- ZXC741ASD852QWE963." She rattled off the number, hoping for a lead. Uiharu hummed in thought on the other end of the line.

"I think I've seen that somewhere before… on some high level documents for the city. Even I haven't thought about peeking at those. Where'd you hear thi-" She paused as she said something to someone Mikoto couldn't hear. "I'm really sorry Misaka-san, but I need to get back to what I was doing." She said hurriedly.

"No worries Uiharu, thanks." She said, hanging up the phone and whipping out her PDA. High level documents with the city, huh? She'd just use her powers and crack right through them. Summoning up electricity from her core, she dove her power through the lines, searching out for this string of letters and numbers, prepared to bust through whatever stood in her way.

* * *

"What… What the fuck is this?" She asked breathlessly to the night air, her hands shaking violently as she stared down at the file she now had on her PDA, reading every line several times in disbelief, shock, and pure, undiluted horror. As if to help process it, she began to read aloud with a shaky voice, on the verge of hysterics.

"E-Employing the "Sisters" for the evolution to Level 6. There exists seven Level 5 Espers within Academy City, but, according to the results of the simulations run by Tree Diagram, only one is currently capable of attaining Level 6." She read aloud, trying to still her hand so she could see the screen clearly.

"If subjected to the regular curriculum, it is predicted that it would take the subject 250 years to acquire the necessary stimuli to attain Level 6. Rejecting this 250 year plan, we sought a way to shorten the evolution toward the shift in level through live combat scenarios. By preparing live combat grounds and scenarios, according to certain parameters and varying situations, the growth rate can be significantly manipulated." She continued to read aloud, her breath on the border of hyperventilation.

"According to the results of the simulated calculations, by preparing 128 separate combat scenario's… and _killing Railgun 128 times, it was concluded the subject would shift to Level 6._ " Mikoto finished, nearly dropping the PDA onto the ground and covering her mouth as she fought the urge to vomit.

"However… securing multiples copies of the Railgun is an impossibility, as such, it was determined that repurposing the Sisters from the Radio Noise project could be used to attain in quantity was is not available in quality." She continued, pulling her hand from her mouth.

"By using… By using 20000 Sisters in combat scenarios, shift towards Level 6 can be reached." She finished, dropping the PDA onto the ground, staring down at it like the trusty device had betrayed her.

"What is this… This has to be some kind of sick joke." She panted out, the lights of the street lamps and the terminal booth flickering as her emotions grew more unstable, and her migraine, that still had not slowed, worsened. Images of the clone she'd just met flashed into her mind, the finality of which she said her farewells, the…

"Endymion." She said in stark horror. What she'd said. Creating something to… to… She grabbed the PDA again, reading the coordinates and time of the next experiment, and pushed her way out of the terminal, sprinting in the direction they said, feeling like she was possessed with a need to act.

She slid to a stop into the alleyway where the coordinates had declared the experiment was to take place and there was… nothing there. She let out a nervous, relieved laugh.

"Of course… of course nothing is here. I got worked up over-" She had turned to leave, when her foot hit something, causing her to glance down. At her feet she saw the shattered goggles of the same kind her clone had been wearing earlier in the day, torn in half, and that cold terror washed over her yet again. "No, no, no, no…" She willed her powers into action, flinging herself with electromagnetic energy onto a rooftop.

"She can't be far…" She said in a panic, her thoughts interrupred by an enormous explosion in the corner of her eye, prompting her to spin in that direction, seeing a climbing tower of smoke in the distance. Without hesitation, she flung herself once more over several buildings, landing with a stumble before breaking into a sprint once more, tearing across the pavement and leaping over anything in her way, electrocuting several security drones that attempted to harass her for being out past curfew.

She sprinted down a bridge as she spotted the source of the smoke, and soaked in the sight before her like dark, vile ice poured into her veins. A storage yard, filled with metal containers and cranes. Gravel grounds. And two people.

A silver haired young man whose bangs were so low she could barely make out his face, and… herself. Her clone. Crawling along the stone toward something she could only sense with her enhanced electromagnetic senses- the button. Dragging herself because she only had a single leg, the stump where her left leg had been pouring blood and smearing the ground. She watched her pick up the button and stare at it, her eyes shifting toward the silver haired man, who'd approached a metal container. He touched it, and like gravity itself conceded to his authority, it lifted into the air, flinging itself through the sky…

"STOOOOO-!" She screamed at the top of her lungs until they burned, to no avail, as the container smashed down onto the ground, crushing everything beneath it- her clone included.

"Experiment… Complete~!" Came a voice she'd heard before, accompanied by a light chuckle at his antics. A voice she'd heard in her dreams. In her nightmares. A face, a power, a death she'd known, she'd felt that night.

The man was her nightmares made flesh before her, the terror she lived with. And all she knew at that moment, was terror, shock, rage, and hatred. Mikoto felt herself flung by her own power over the railing and toward the ground, summoning up lightning from within her and loosing it without restraint at the man, the lightning seeming to part as it struck him, tearing the metal containers behind him into scrap, the man turning in mild surprise, but unharmed.

Mikoto screamed a battle cry of pain and sorrow as she charged the man. She slid to a stop, her foot stomping into the ground as she called to the iron sand that lurked beneath the ground, a veritable tornado of black sand pouring from the ground, whipping around her like a malicious snake. The man said something, but she didn't hear it, all she cared at that moment was fulfilling her desire to see him die. She flung the twisting cyclone of sand and smashed it into him, spinning like countless vibrating blades where he was.

"Wow, not bad. Manipulating iron sand via magnetism? That's a pretty clever way to use it." A voice echoed out as the sand suddenly dissipated from an invisible shockwave. The man stood there, unharmed, not even lightly touched by her attack that should have left him a smear on the ground.

"How…" She breathed out, panting. "Just what is he-" She began to trail off, when her eye caught sight of something, turning her head to look at it. Lying on the gravel, surrounded by a pool of blood, was a leg matching her own sans the body it should have been attached to. She felt her body shake violently as she hugged herself, panting and without restraint let out a scream of uncontrolled emotions that spilled out across the area. The sound of metal bending and bolts popping could be heard as she felt the urge to crush this man. Above her, she felt them all, the hundreds of metal rebar she'd ripped from the ground.

"This power… are you…" The silver haired man trailed off as he stared up at the metal, before Mikoto let out a cry of rage and sent them all piling down at him, impaling the ground with extreme prejudice. Just as they were to strike him, she felt their direction suddenly change, and quickly pulled herself out of the way as several of the rebar flew past where she once stood, smashing into the ground. She spun around to look at the man, who stood unharmed once again.

"I see, I see…" The man said in a voice that made her skin crawl, filled with malice and ice. "I was wondering what was going on since this wasn't on the schedule…" He trailed off, looking up at her with burning crimson eyes that stared at her from behind his bangs. " _You're the Original, ain'tcha?_ " He asked, grinning madly at her. Mikoto felt her heart stop for a moment, only to be reignited with anger and wrath. She fished out a coin from her pocket, ignoring whatever it was he said next and pointing the coin at him, taking up her stance.

"Why." She demanded, prompting the man to stop dead and tilt his head at her. "Why did you participate in this program?!" She demanded of him, her body vibrating with hatred.

"Ehh? What's this all of a sudden?" He asked her in response, shrugging a shoulder, prompting her to snap at him.

"ANSWER ME, YOU BASTARD!" She screamed. "There is no way you were forced into this! Not with your power!" She yelled, her eyes burning into his.

"Reason, huh… Well. It is…" He held up his hand toward the moon behind her, as if to grab it. "To obtain absolute power." He answered, an answer that caused her to freeze as she began to process it. "Power so unfathomable that the very idea of opposing me would be considered absurd. Beyond comprehension. You're Level 5, you understand, right-?" He was cut off by a hateful growl.

"For that… Fucking for that…" She whispered beneath her growl, her head hanging down. She threw her head up to show her teary, hate-filled expression. "YOU KILLED HER FOR SOMETHING LIKE THAT!?" She screamed as she unleashed her Railgun, sending the coin flying at him at over 1000 meters per second with electromagnetism, watching as the coin hit- and then blinking as she felt heat fly past her head, scalding tips of her hair, and ripping apart the rebar behind her as her Railgun had reversed and fired right back at her.

"Killed her? Geez, take it easy. You make me sound like a murderer. It's not like that was a PERSON I killed, just a cheap, crappy imitation of you." He said, scratching at his head, seemingly oblivious to the shock Mikoto felt at her signature attack sent flying back at her with apparently zero effort. "Hm? What are you so tense about?" He then grinned. "Oh. I get it. That was your big move, huh? I guess we really are on completely different levels." He chuckled, beginning to advance toward her.

"Well, Number 3. Do me a favor and let us make this interesting, OK?" He grinned, extending his arms out, looking like a demon with an invisible aura of malevolence and venom. Mikoto shook at the sight, and that terror twisted into a blinding hatred as she sent out an electromagnetic wave across the area, grabbing at whatever she could, hoping to crush him, ready to kill him-

"Please wait." Came her own voice from behind her, prompting her to freeze in place. "Onee-sama, there is no need for you to further endanger yourself. As well, unscheduled conflict could cause abnormalities in the program, Misaka warns." Mikoto spun around, and saw a sight beyond her worst nightmares. Dozens and dozens… of her. Clones. So many, all standing there, all staring through their lowered goggles.

"Onee-sama is a Level 5, and is more likely to cause disruptions to the program than anything else, Misaka continues. It is highly advised this course of action is immediately ceased, Misaka advises." They all talked in relay, one beginning a sentence, another continuing it, another finishing. It chilled her.

"Pfft… Whatever. Fine, fine, I was just fucking joking. Stop talking like that, it disgusts me." The man said behind her. She heard him approaching her from behind. "Oh, that's right… I didn't introduce myself. Spose' I should, since your clones have been helpin' me out so much." He said, stopping directly behind her and leaning down next to her.

Mikoto knew who he was. There was only one individual of this power in this city. Only a single Level 5 who could do what he did, one who controlled all vectors.

"I'm Accelerator. Nice to meetcha." He whispered in her ear with a mad grin, inhaling her scent for a moment before turning and walking away. Mikoto stood there, the full weight of her young self's foolish actions crashing down on her. Brought to her knees by guilt.

"Why… Why are you doing this?" She asked weakly toward her clones. "You're alive, aren't you? You're going to die if you do this! WHY?!" She screamed at them, looking up, shaking.

They all stared before one spoke in reply. "We are merely man-made units, imitations of Onee-sama, who exist at the push of a button. We are lab animals. We are here to… take another's death." She said, echoing words akin to those Mikoto had spoken before, the clones moving to clean up the area, leaving Mikoto on the ground. She hugged herself, choking on her own tears…

And let out a scream of pain and sorrow the likes of which she had never before.


	10. Chapter 10 - Kuroko

"This is absolutely _ridiculous._ " Kuroko sighed as she threw another three vials onto the table in the Judgement office, right on top of a giant pile of at least three dozen vials, all filled with the copper neurotoxin they'd been chasing down for the past several hours, long past curfew and starting to burn the midnight oil, and not for the first time over the past few days. Uiharu had dug up a few leads, and those leads had led to even more leads, with Kuroko finding an absurd amount of vials scattered throughout the city in the most ridiculous of places and in the hands of the weirdest people.

"Pawn shops, street vendors, Skill-Out, lost-and-found Judgement boxes, shipping company's…" Uiharu listed off the various places with a sigh, having not even said a tenth of the places and people they'd found the vials. Kuroko groaned as she flopped onto the couch of the room, burying her face into the cushions. Uiharu rolled over on her computer chair to the couch, patting the back of Kuroko's head.

Kuroko sighed and looked up from the cushion, half her face still buried in the cushions. Even Uiharu had to admit it was kind of cute.

"I'm starting to get a bit suspicious, honestly. You think someone knows we're looking into this?" Uiharu asked, Kuroko sighing as she sat up.

"It feels like someone's been wasting our time." Kuroko sighed, getting off the couch and stretching out her sore muscles. Uiharu turned to look at her computer, furrowing her brow as she slid back over to it. She began to rapidly type at the keyboard, eyes dashing across the display, her expression growing more and more serious. Kuroko opened her mouth to ask, but was immediately cut off by a raised finger calling for her silence. Kuroko was stunned wordless at the sudden assertiveness from Uiharu, and simply waited.

"This is... " She looked baffled, before turning to look at Kuroko. "I called in a few favors at forensics to get those cans you brought in tested for the toxin. After that, I had them test all the cans in that machine." Uiharu began to explain, Kuroko's eyebrows raising at the latter half.

"The only can that was poisoned was Misaka's." Uiharu said, looking at Kuroko with a grave expression. Kuroko blinked at that. Then blinked again.

"ONLY her can? But… how would they have possibly… I never took my eyes off it, I swear, there's no way someone could have slipped something into it without my seeing it, and the number of teleporters who can do that in Academy City I can count on one hand, and one of them is me." Kuroko said adamantly, to which Uiharu nodded.

"Right. And, the can showed signs that it had the poison both in the liquid AND within the metal can itself. So the next logical conclusion was that it was poisoned before either of you arrived. And the fact that only Misaka's was poisoned comes down to two possibilities; either they poisoned one and trusted in luck, or they knew which can Misaka was going to buy." Uiharu deduced.

Kuroko furrowed her brow deeply, looking infuriated as she often did when Misaka was in danger. "Precognition." Kuroko filled in the blanks, Uiharu nodding gravely in response. Precognition, the ability to predict the future. Even in Academy City, powerful Pre-cog's, as they were sometimes shortened to, were exceptionally rare.

"It'd explain how her food keeps getting poisoned so accurately. The culprit can predict what she'll be eating, and poisons it ahead of time. Thing is, I've never heard of a Pre-cog with that level of specificity, or the power to be that broad." Uiharu said with a frown, putting a hand to her lips in thought, her expression twisted into one of concern.

"Do you think this person could be that Indigo mystery we saw on that database?" Kuroko asked, sitting on the armrest of the couch, her mind racing with theories. Uiharu joined her in quiet, dire contemplation. The very notion of trying to investigate and track down someone who could see the future was a troubling prospect.

Their thoughts were not to remain interrupted as a loud explosion could be heard in the distance. Both of them leaped from their seats, Kuroko teleporting over to the window and throwing the blinds out of the way.

"What was that!?" She hissed as she looked around, spotting smoke trailing up in the distance. Uiharu was at the computer, typing away as she pulled up various security cameras across the city.

"A facility has had an explosion of unknown cause! It's… Oh no." Uiharu said in a hushed whisper. "...It's the Shinasame University DNA Map Analytical Laboratory." She said, turning to look at Kuroko with something akin to horror on her face. The same building they'd infiltrated. Kuroko returned her horrified gaze with a matching one of her own.

"Would they… would they be so extreme to cover their tracks?" Kuroko asked, an inkling of fear spreading up from her stomach, which was quickly interrupted by another explosion. Followed by yet another immediately after. Kuroko grabbed the string and nearly snapped the blinds off with how fast she pulled it, the window exposing the cityscape, showcasing several inferno's and towers of smoke emanating from across the city, and every few moments, another explosion occurred. "Oh my god…." Uiharu covered her mouth in horror as she whispered in shock.

"I'm going out, get into the camera's, find out what's going on!" Kuroko yelled, grabbing her bag and teleporting through the window as she began to rapidly flash across the city, heading first toward the Shinasame University. Landing on top of a light post several blocks away from her destination, she reached into her bag, removing a monocle-like device that connected to an earpiece like the one she usually wore, snapping it around her ear and letting the lens fall in front of her eye. "Uiharu?" She called to her partner before teleporting yet again toward her target.

"I'm here. It's bad, really bad." Uiharu sent an image onto the monocle, a satellite view of the location which showed it wreathed in flames. Arriving, Kuroko looked down from a building at the burning building, which periodically let out loud pops and bangs as machinery within detonated. "The other buildings?" Kuroko asked with a consciously rigid voice.

"Just as bad. Anti-Skill is pouring onto the scenes now. They're describing it as a series of explosions from electrical equipment. They're still unsure on injured and casualties." Uiharu explained, who Kuroko knew was flying across her keyboard. "They're requesting Judgement help with evacuation of any bystanders and injured."

"Acknowledged." Kuroko vanished from the roof and landed down on the ground, dashing toward the burning building, and went to work.

With any luck, they could contain this disaster.

* * *

But, really, when was she ever lucky?

The past week had been like something out of a nightmare. While the wide-scale and coordinated devastation had not been repeated, two to three research facilities had been attacked by an unknown number of assailants, and no statement had been made by any claiming credit for the attacks. Kuroko and Uiharu had been like many other Judgement officers, called in to assist to both safeguard civilians and prevent a public panic. More than once, both Kuroko and Uiharu had collapsed onto the couches in their office and fallen asleep then and there after more than one all-nighter.

And through it all, Kuroko found her worry for Mikoto growing. Unable to investigate the conspiracy she just knew was orbiting around Mikoto, and unable to properly guard her with her presence, divided as she was by duty to Academy City, and her love for her Onee-sama. She had been forced to resort to texting her periodically throughout the week, but her replies troubled Kuroko. They were almost always one-word responses, and sometimes she did not get a response at all. The few times Kuroko had made it back to the dorm, Mikoto had not been present, and it didn't look like she'd been home all night.

Then one night, she tiredly opened the door to her dorm room, and felt her heart flutter as she saw Mikoto sitting on the edge of her bed. "Onee-sama! You're here!" She gasped in surprise, earning a huff from Mikoto.

"Is there something wrong with me being in my own dorm room?" She questioned in a harsh tone that was like an icy spike into Kuroko's gut.

"I-It's just, you've been so scarce lately, and there's been a lot of dangerous things going on, I'm sure you've heard and noticed how busy Judgement has been with it all." She attempted to interject, but Mikoto just sighed and looked away from her.

"Really? I haven't noticed." She said in an aloof manner. Why… Why was Mikoto treating her like some stranger?

"Is there something… bothering you, Onee-sam-" Mikoto twisted her head at her and snarled at her.

"NO." Kuroko physically winced at the sudden rage, struck speechless at the unprovoked anger. Silence filled the room, its terrible weight suffocating Kuroko. Mikoto, after a time of sitting in the silence and looking away from Kuroko, stood up. "I'm going out, I need to finish something." She said, striding toward the door. Kuroko, in a moment of impulse, reached out and grabbed Mikoto's arm. The poison, the terrorist attacks, her behavior, the conspiracy she found herself prodding at, it screamed at Kuroko that Mikoto had gotten herself involved in something dangerous.

"Please, Onee-sama! Let me help! I can tell something is wrong, please just let me in-" Mikoto spun around at her, giving Kuroko a look that chilled her to the bone. It was anger, yes, but it was also… despair. Pain.

"Don't get in my way, Kuroko. You'll only get hurt." She said in a tone that frightened Kuroko, her hand loosening its grip on Mikoto's arm, who turned away without another word and slammed the door shut behind her, leaving Kuroko standing alone in their room. Kuroko's arms fell to her sides, her head hanging down as she stared at the ground.

"I guess… you can't rely on me… huh?" She asked the silent room as she felt warm tears falling down her face.


	11. Chapter 11 - Mikoto

**A/N: For the record, I do read your reviews, and appreciate them. I take them all into consideration in my writing, but generally will not discuss future plot for fear of spoilers. Enjoy the read.**

* * *

Mikoto's legs burned as she sprinted through the streets, a thunderstorm starting to rage in the sky as rain began to pour from the black clouds, soaking Mikoto. She tore into the hotel lobby that she'd been using as her hideout for the past several days, collapsing against the elevator wall as she collided into it, ignoring the cries for her to slow down from the desk clerk. She panted as the elevator rose, simply willing the elevator to move with her powers, hot breath pouring from her labored lungs as she stumbled out of the elevator and down the hall, swiped her hotel cardkey, and staggered inside the hotel room.

She peeled off her soaked clothes, grabbing the same clothes she'd used to infiltrate the Radio Noise facility, starting to dress. She got the shorts on before the frustration building in her head hit a breaking point, letting out a shout as she kicked a chair over, stumbling a few steps back and collapsing into a sitting position against the foot of the bed on the floor, hugging her legs to her bare chest, burying her face into her thighs and letting out a muffled scream of pure frustration and emotional pain.

The image of Kuroko's frightened face was burned into her eyes, and Mikoto felt like the most vile human in existence because of it. Kuroko was just offering to help her, and Mikoto had treated her like some kind of pest, been cruel to her in a way she didn't deserve. Mikoto had to admit, for a moment, she had been tempted at the offer of aid, but… now that Accelerator, the nightmare that had plagued her before she'd even met him, had been made flesh before her, it felt like all her nightmares were real. The image of a dead and mutilated Kuroko was seared into her mind, and the thought of a life without Kuroko was like a knife twisting in her gut.

She couldn't… she couldn't lose Kuroko. She was already responsible for thousands of innocent deaths, she just… not Kuroko. Every time that thought rattled through her head, a barrage of emotions tormented her, and she fought tears as she replayed her nightmare of Kuroko's death over and over. She didn't know why the thought hurt so much, which only made it that much worse.

"Fuck, I'm a wreck…" She exhaled with a choked-back sob that she refused to let fully escape. No. She didn't have the luxury of feeling sorry for herself, too many had already died because of her. She didn't deserve pity.

Kuroko had already almost spotted her several times during her Judgement work around each facility Mikoto had been at. Mikoto picked herself up off the ground, using the bed for support as she grabbed the remainder of her outfit and pulled it on. She took several labored deep breaths to calm herself, turning to face the hotel bed. Laying on it was a packet of papers that she'd stolen during her evening crusades, placed next to a close-fit runner's messenger bag. She closed her eyes as her thoughts wandered to the previous nights that led her to this point.

* * *

"Will you give us your DNA Map?"

"NO! DON'T DO IT!" Mikoto screamed at her younger self talking to the imposter scientist. "They'll use it to create those twisted experiments! They'll make clones of you and slaughter them! DON'T! DO IT!" She screamed in futility as the scene unfolded as it had before.

"So it was Onee-sama's fault." Mikoto heard her voice say without her mouth moving. She twisted around and found herself floating in a void, watching her blood soaked naked clones grabbing at her clothing. "Onee-sama killed us." Another said, pulling on her. "It was your fault." She heard those last words echo over and over again. Your fault. Your fault. Your fault.

* * *

She gasped as she opened her eyes, escaping from her nightmare. She was cold. Sleeping on a bench will do that. She raised her face from her legs, which were hugged to her chest.

"Here I was expecting some kind of juvenile delinquent, but instead I find you." Mikoto looked up to see the fish-eyed freak she'd met some time ago, the one distributing the cash cards. And who kicked her.

"Your state tells me that you have discovered the truth." Shinobu said casually, placing her hands behind her back. "This is what happens when a carefree girl like you sticks her nose where it doesn't belong." She said harshly, Mikoto's spark of rage dampened by her grogginess and misery.

"What do _you_ know?" She hissed at the creepy woman, having no patience for a stranger judging her.

"More than you, and I tried to keep it that way. Now you've learned too much, and I'm betting that just returning to your life will not free you from the burden that your previous ignorance did not place upon you." She said, still in a tone that Mikoto found incredibly condescending.

"How… How can they justify slaughter like this?" Mikoto asked as she buried her face into her legs once more.

"Slaughter? Well…" She tapped her chin a bit. "How does any human justify such things? That they deserve it, or for the common, perhaps greater, good of all, or maybe even by simply classifying them as not human and therefore feel no moral obligation exists." She hummed out, Mikoto bristling with rage. She felt a scratching feeling and a migraine coming on once more, just like she'd had with… with… her clone.

"What kind of absurd logic is that…" She hissed, sliding from the bench onto her feet, her knees practically creaking with stiffness. Shinobu simply shrugged.

"To them, that is what this is. I confess, even I looked at them as for a time as little more than lab ra-" Shinobu's eyes momentarily widened as a hand closed around her throat. Mikoto's eyes were filled with rage, and hate, and guilt as they burned into Shinobu's, who admirably reacted by remaining mostly still and returning the stare.

"Finish that sentence. I fucking dare you." Mikoto hissed out with a malice that prompted Shinobu to raise an eyebrow, but with a complete lack of fear that made the scratching at the back of her head worse.

"...If it makes you feel better, you're free to kill me. I know my sins. But I am curious. Why do _you_ care?" Shinobu asked, Mikoto glaring at her, before the esper shoved her away by her throat, causing Shinobu to briefly stumble before righting herself, rubbing her wounded neck casually, an unpleasant hand-print shaped bruise quickly forming from the strength of the grip. "What will you do?" She added on, her calm and composure unbroken.

Mikoto turned and started to stalk away. "I don't care. But they used me for their own sick goals. I'll bring it all crashing down on their heads." She muttered. From behind her, she heard Shinobu respond.

"Don't care." She echoed. "My throat disagrees." She said calmly. "You realize over twenty facilities are working on this project? You think you can do this alone?" She asked, causing Mikoto to pause and look over her shoulder at Shinobu.

"Just who the hell do you think I am?" She asked, turning and moving to leave once again. Shinobu added one last comment.

"You cannot win against him. Accelerator _will_ kill you."

Mikoto did not respond to that one before disappearing from sight.

* * *

There was a downside to having a city-wide network for security and efficiency purposes. They were very vulnerable to people like her.

Mikoto stood at the edge of a skyscraper, her PDA plugged in to a terminal input used for the buildings maintenance. She'd chosen the skyscraper due to its vantage point on the city below, allowing her to see all the facilities that she had chosen for her crusade. She felt pangs of guilt filling in her chest as she heard cries of alarm and surprise as buildings began to burst into flames, windows exploding out, and the heavy lab machinery within exploding from a sudden electrical surge so powerful that it blew right past the safety measures. People in those areas who were uninvolved were undoubtedly terrified at the explosions.

Those involved were still inside, and a dark part of Mikoto didn't care. She was fairly certain that dark part was being listened to as she destroyed the facilities. She wasn't sure who was trapped inside those buildings, and frankly, she felt that they deserved whatever happened to them.

Rather abruptly, she found herself completely cut off from the various facilities, sighing loudly as sweat poured down her forehead and back of her neck. They'd shut off the various external connections. That was illegal, but they were cloning humans, so she was hardly surprised.

"Well.. that was about… 70%?" She said, standing on the edge of the roof, looking out onto the cityscape that was dotted with bright burning red from the buildings she'd managed to destroy.

"Guess I'm doing the rest the hard way." She said coldly.

* * *

Mikoto thought her situation couldn't get much worse, and the universe seemed determined to prove to her how wrong she was. She panted as she limped away from the facility she'd painstakingly infiltrated and destroyed, detonating machinery, ruining computers, setting fire to anything remotely flammable. And while it may have been easier to disassociate herself with any injuries or… even deaths… when attacking the facilities remotely, she learned just how hard it is to truly hurt another human being.

She'd turned quickly in the hall as a security guard yelled at her to freeze, throwing her hand up to electrify him. She hesitated. He didn't. She felt a searing pain like a lance pierce through her right side, her entire body vibrating with agony and fear as her electromagnetic senses detected the presence of a lump of metal now firmly lodged against one of her ribs. Her entire vision was red with pain, and in a panic, she unleashed an explosion of lightning in every direction, flinging herself bodily with magnetism through a hole in the ceiling and on to the roof. Another controlled leap and she was in an alley, limping away while trying her hardest to breathe.

She'd destroyed three facilities in two nights after her evening of remote surveillance and destruction. Three nights of non-stop movement. She was getting beyond tired. She thought 36 hours without sleep was horrific, this was a special level of hell made even worse by the unbelievably painful bullet now lodged inside of her.

She collapsed against an alley wall as she got out of sight, gritting her teeth. How could tonight get ANY FUCKING WORSE?

"Hey! You there! Judgement!"

Oh. That's how.

Kuroko's voice echoed down the other end of the alley, Mikoto mercifully concealed in the darkness created by the night and the shadows generated by the burning flames nearby. She pushed herself onto her legs. She couldn't let Kuroko see her.

"This area is being evacuated, you-" Kuroko paused as she began running down the alley, stopping as she looked down. Mikoto's eyes followed hers. She'd left a rather distinct blood trail on the ground. Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck fuck-.

Mikoto bolted. She heard Kuroko's familiar voice call after her, her voice shifting in distance rapidly. Of course she was teleporting, why wouldn't she? Mikoto was stronger than Kuroko in a lot of ways, but faster was not one of them. Immediately, she was reaching out to grab at security cameras as she turned corners rapidly. If Kuroko was chasing her, that meant Uiharu was watching her. She changed the recordings of every camera within several hundred yards showing her running in every direction, while she ignored the burning pain against her rib as she ran as fast as she could, her hand pressed against the wound to stem the blood flow and stop leaving a trail.

For fifteen painstaking, agonizing, nerve-wracking minutes she fled, finding a dumpster to hide behind and waiting. Waiting. And waiting.

She'd lost Kuroko and Uiharu. At this rate though, she'd bleed out. She was already feeling light headed.

"What should I do? Fuck…" She thought and thought in a panic, and only one solution came to mind. She first had to get the bullet out. Focusing her magnetism on it, she took off her hat and bit down on it hard to cover up her screaming and sobbing as she pulled the bullet out, a dull tink heard as it hit the ground, a flesh flow of blood pouring from the wound. She pressed her hand against her, her breathing rapidly picking up in speed as her heart pounded in terrified anticipation before she bit hard down and unleashed a heated flash of electricity on the wound, cauterizing it shut with a strangled scream.

She only knew pain before she blacked out.

* * *

Mikoto groaned as her eyes fluttered open, her face covered in a variety of fluids from tears to sweat, to a line of drool down her mouth as she pushed herself off the ground, wiping her face off. Everything hurt. Weirdly enough, her closed bullet wound didn't hurt at all, but the area around it screamed at her. Guess she'd fried the nerves.

She got onto her feet with a struggle, panting from the exertion and slowly stumbling her way out of the alley.

Toward her next target.

* * *

Mikoto realized her mistake had been letting herself get too angry, rampaging through those facilities like an electric juggernaut. She couldn't maintain that. So now, she'd take down the next target with a bit more caution.

She looked down at the third to last facility from a tall building, pulling on her hat after cleaning it off from having bit down on it.

"Almost there…" She mumbled, turning to move and stumbling, falling down to a knee for a moment before pushing herself back up on her feet. Damn it. She'd been going for four days with barely any food or water, and she hardly counted passing out from pain as 'sleep'.

"Too bad." She groaned at herself as she righted herself, reaching out and throwing herself with magnetism toward the facility, slowing her descent as she landed on the roof, sending out an electromagnetic pulse in every direction to shut off the various surveillance equipment, feeling camera's and thermal detectors shut off, though she doubted she'd gotten the inside. A quick glance around and saw a metal service door for the roof, slowly walking over to it and bending the metal with a little magnetism to break the lock and sliding in.

As she limped down the hall, she spotted something, looking at a small side room. Limping inside, she almost burst out laughing at the stroke of luck, but only got an odd coughing from the pain. It was a server room, it looked like an IT department. She limped over to a computer, placing her hand against it, and prepared to send a surge through the facility to blow out the computers, but hesitated. Instead, she focused and blew through their cybersecurity, sorting through various files hastily as she looked for… anything. About him. She found numerous files on Accelerator, various mentions of his name, and a few files in particular stood out.

"Experimental Anti-Accelerator Hyper-Velocity Artillery Shell…?!" She said breathlessly, shocked. Could they have really developed a countermeasure to Accelerators powers? She went deeper, reading through the entire file, muttering to herself as she read.

"Per the analysis of Mr. Indigo, Accelerator's near-absolute defense is not without its inherent flaws, however it was… it was deemed that the AAHVAS was… incapable of penetrating Accelerator's defenses, but may have a use with the Sisters during the Level 6 Shift Experiment…" She felt like a rock had dropped into her stomach. It's what she deserved for letting herself get her hopes up.

Growling a bit, she willed the file over to print out its entirety at a nearby station, grabbing it and stapling it together with a depressed grumble before she reached over and blasted a hole into one of the servers, reaching inside and unleashing a chorus of electrical commands and charges through the entire system, watching as the equipment exploded and burst into flames, hearing the destruction across the facility.

With a heavy heart, she limped back to the roof as the building began to fall apart, throwing herself off and cushioning her landing as best she could. Beyond drained, she limped away back toward her dorm, to nurse her wounds and prepare for the next step.

"One more down…." She muttered to herself as she moved. "...Only two to go."

* * *

Mikoto opened her eyes as she returned her mind to the hotel room, away from memory lane, and stared down at the packet of papers and messenger bag that lay on her hotel bed, grabbing both and shoving one into the other before she threw it over her shoulder, clipping it firmly into place.

"This ends tonight." She said, grabbing a bottle of painkillers she'd stolen and taking a few so she could ignore the pain of her gunshot wound.

"One way or another." She finished as she walked over to the window, climbed atop the balcony, and threw herself with magnetism toward the next facility. She'd steal that shell and destroy that wretched place. Or die trying.


	12. Chapter 12 - Kuroko

Kuroko had buried her face into Mikoto's pillow, quietly crying after Mikoto had left with a slam of the door and a barrage of harsh words. Kuroko felt like her heart had been stomped on, and she had no idea what to do. She had resigned herself to crying herself to sleep, as pathetic as it made her feel.

A ring of her phone interrupted that train of thought. Pushing herself up with an unhappy growl, she grabbed her phone off of the table at the center of the room, looking at the caller ID. That was an Anti-Skill Dispatch Center. She wiped her face and composed herself before answering.

"Judgement Officer Shirai Kuroko." She answered formally, having regained her calm as she focused on being in her Judgement mindset.

"This is Anti-Skill with a request. There has been unforeseen circumstances at the forensic lab, and it has been requested that you return to the scene of the suspected terrorist for an additional blood sample, if possible." The man on the other end of the phone said. Something about his voice was very grating to her, it reminded her of a snake, but she pushed it out of her head. Odd request, but… frankly, she appreciated a chance to get her mind off things. Even if it did have her returning to a site of her failure.

"Acknowledged, I will do so immediately." She answered, which got her a response of a hung-up phone. Rude. Even after asking her to break her school's curfew. She sighed as she slid her green Judgement armband on, strapping on her black straps on each thigh filled with her metal spikes. Spinning toward the window, she looked outside it and vanished.

* * *

Uiharu hummed cutely as she walked along the outdoor hall to her apartment, carrying a small plastic bag from the convenience store just down the road. She'd just needed a few things and it was the first chance she'd had with how busy she'd been with Judgement. She tried not to focus on the attacks, she just needed to push it out of her mind. Dwelling on it wouldn't be of any help. And she was sure Anti-Skill would take care of it.

She fiddled with her keys and unlocked the door, stepping inside. "I'm home!" She called out to Haruue Erii, her roommate. Haruue was a girl her age, with short brown hair with a small stretchy band usually at the side of her head with a cute tuft of hair, but at the moment, the girl was in her pajamas, sitting at the table in their bedroom. Uiharu froze as she got a few steps inside as she saw her roommate, who was sitting at the table, staring at her. No, not at her… just… staring into space. There was no thought behind her unblinking eyes. She was so still it was frightening.

She opened her mouth to say something before she felt something press against the back of her head. Her heart began to pound in panic before a electronic beep was heard behind her.

"Shirai Kuroko called you to meet at your Judgement office. You're running late. You were just about to leave." A pretty voice she didn't recognize said. In a trance, she found herself echoing the words.

"Shirai called me to meet her at the office. I'm running late. I was just leaving." She droned out, dropping her bag onto the ground and turning toward the door, walking past a figure that was indistinct and featureless to her eyes, and yet, she saw the faint hint of a smile. The figure's presence did not bother Uiharu for some reason.

A giggle from this figure marked Uiharu's departure.

* * *

Kuroko arrived at the destination with an odd feeling. Something seemed… off. She scowled and chalked it up to her rattled nerves after her fight with Mikoto. She walked toward the alley she had seen the suspect, and just as she got to the entrance of the alley where she'd last been and had seen the suspect at the other end of the alley, she froze. Lying on the ground was an Anti-skill officer in full armor, surrounded by a massive pool of blood. Kuroko flashed over to the trooper, reaching down to look for any sign of life.

She scowled deeply as she felt no pulse, his back riddled full of what looked like bullet holes, reaching down to roll the body onto their side, and just as she lifted it, she heard a distinct 'click' resound. She paused for a second of thought, and in a moment of instinct teleported her maximum distance straight up. As she stared down at where she previously was, two thoughts occurred at once. She was fairly certain she'd shot up well over a hundred meters past her maximum, and the second thought was consumed by the massive explosion from a detonating bomb that vaporized the Anti-Skill officer's body and would have certainly done the same to her.

"What the hell…!?" She gasped out, feeling gravity taking control as she started to fall, quickly teleporting down onto a nearby rooftop. Down below her, she heard several pairs of boots running on the ground.

"Spread out, kill on sight. Remember, no witnesses. Watch your six, she'll teleport into your blind spots." A cold and remorseless voice said, garbled through some kind of synthesizer. Kuroko felt her heart beat pounding in her ears. A quick glance over the roof allowed her to see no fewer than eight heavily armed, black clothed and armored gas-masked and helmeted figures, automatic rifles and submachine guns all at their shoulders, laser sights moving about as they spread out in pairs, constantly moving in a pattern that watched the others back. They were here for her. She felt panic rising in her chest as she wrapped her head around the notion that people like that were after HER SPECIFICALLY.

No, no. She couldn't panic. And she couldn't run. They'd murdered an Anti-Skill officer and by the sounds of it will kill anyone they'd come across. If she ran, who knew how many people would die. She reached down and felt her fingers barely brush against her spikes before they teleported up in front of her face, grabbing three out of the air with her other hand. She furrowed her brow and focused herself. She wouldn't lose again.

A quick glance up over the edge of the roof again helped her establish where each target was, currently spotting only four moving down some of the alleys. Glancing up, she teleported herself across to another rooftop, about a foot above the ledge of the roof- she always gave herself some margin for error- landing down and quickly teleporting two spikes downward into one of the automatic rifles of this particular pair of assassin's. To her surprise, the second her feet firmly landed, both froze and twisted up at her, meeting her wide eyes with a barrage of automatic fire, though one tossed his gun down, pulling a handgun. She quickly teleported away as she felt a bullet whizz just inches from her face, landing on another rooftop.

"Over there!" She heard one yell, which was briefly followed by feet moving and then a metal dinking sound as a round object landed on the roof. A grenade. She vanished again quickly, pushing her limitations and teleporting a good hundred and seventeen meters to another roof as the grenade peppered shrapnel over her previous hiding spot.

"How are they finding me!?" She gasped out, her heart pounding. She gave it some rapid thought, and realized they'd spun on her the second she landed. "Motion detectors." She growled, looking up over the roof, seeing the troopers moving quickly in her direction. They likely had them set to ignore their own motions, which meant they had an advanced linked system and likely a heads-up display on those helmets. Which meant they had technology they likely got in the city. Kuroko scowled and thought quickly, counting her spikes on her thighs. She didn't have enough to disable all their weapons…

She vanished, appearing a solid thirty feet in the air behind them, one of the soldiers noticing her and twisting around, starting to yell, which was cut off as she sent two spikes at him, one piercing his wrist and another his knee, the man giving out a strangled cry as he hit the ground. The assassin's slid to a stop, spinning around, but the time they needed to ascertain her location was the time she used to teleport once more, flinging herself directly above them. Two more spotted her in their rapid search, and she felt bullets whizzing up in the air past her. She tried to block out feelings of panic and fear, grabbing three more spikes. She couldn't make out their distinct body locations, and her survival instinct kicked in as she sent all the spikes at the two firing at her, neither making more than a strangled gurgle as they collapsed on the ground.

Kuroko felt an intense weight of guilt and panic rising up in her chest. She'd teleported them directly into their brains. She had murdered them, before they could murder her. The rest had spotted her and were training their guns, forcing another teleport out of their line of sight. She collapsed against a rooftop ledge, hidden from view, but was almost certain they had detected it. She had only seconds to respond, and her body had decided now would be a good time to hyperventilate.

"There! Fire in the hole!" She heard one yell, her eyes widening as she tried to focus on teleporting, but was too panicked, and on a moment of impulse, leaped up out of cover. She spotted one soldier with his arm pulled back, another grenade at the ready, and let instinct take over. She sent three spikes through his arm, causing him to cry out as it was suddenly paralyzed, the primed grenade landing on the ground. There was a shout for cover as several tried to dive away, before her vision was obscured by the bright flash of the explosion.

She dove down as she felt hot shrapnel flying near her, staying crouched in cover for a long time as the blast echoed through the air. Finally, she looked up, surveying the sight. She didn't spot any movement among the mangled bodies down below. Teleporting down, spikes raised and on shaky legs, she glanced around, hearing a groan of pain. She spun around, spotting one man trying to crawl away, lurching over to him and grabbing his collar.

"Who are you! Why?!" She demanded in a rage, her mind racing from intense adrenaline. From behind the gas mask she heard a half-choked laugh.

"F-fucking unbelievable… beaten by some stupid brat…" He choked out, before gasping in alarm. Kuroko saw movement reflected on the lens of his helmet and teleported herself out of the way, facing toward the assassin. There was a brief scream of fear followed by a sickening crunching sound as an enormous metal monstrosity landed on top of the man, gore splattering the machine and pavement.

The machine turned on its six heavy metal legs, the enormous machine that filled half the back street by itself. Its shape reminded her of some kind of strange spider, with an enormous pentagon shaped abdomen attached to what would approximate a spiders thorax. Its 'face' was flat, with four tiny red glowing dots in the metal shell staring down at her. The most pressing concern was the unmanned dual-barreled turret with some type of rotary loading system that she was fairly confident was used to load and fire grenades.

To say Kuroko was terrified at that very moment would be an understatement. What had she done to earn this level of violence? This amount of resources?

"SHIRAI!" The familiar voice heard over the earpiece she didn't even remember putting in her ear- it was practically reflex at this point when doing Judgement work- broke her out of her trance in time to teleport down the street, a grenade hitting where she'd previously been standing and blasting a hole in the road.

"Uiharu!?" She called over the earpiece. What was she doing here?! Did they call her in too?

"Sorry I'm late! I rushed over as soon as you called!" She said, the sounds of Uiharu tapping away at her computer undoubtedly ringing through the Judgement Office room.

"Called you-?" She blinked and teleported again as another grenade was launched at her, blowing another hole in the road.

"I've got the camera's and I'm taking control of security bots in the area. They were all locked down from an Anti-Skill Dispatch Center for some reason!" She said, prompting Kuroko to blink in shock, teleporting out of the way again, further down the road. She was now a fair distance from the machine which had paused in its assault. The abdomen on its back began to raise up until it was perpendicular to the ground.

"Uiharu, it's doing something…" She said anxiously. The machine's abdomen suddenly opened up, much like a platform, showcasing four smaller automatons docked inside of it, all of which leaped out one after the other, landing on eight legs and starting to rapidly scurry toward Kuroko.

Kuroko's eyes went as wide as dinner plates as she was charged by horrifying spider-robots. This was quickly growing into the single worst night of her entire life.

"GOT IT!" Uiharu's voice called out as security robots seemingly poured out of the woodwork and charged the robots, intercepting them and smashing violently into the spider-bots.

Kuroko didn't have long to appreciate the sudden small victory as she heard something that sounded like a jet engine, and a blur of movement drew her eyes upward, where a large black shape was rapidly descending down at her. Leaping back quickly, she narrowly avoided the six-legged monstrosity that had carried the spider-bots, which had abandoned the abdomen docking bay and somehow managed to leap all the way down the street, into the air, and crushing the ground where Kuroko had been standing.

"Something that big has no right to jump that high!" She objected, pulling metal spikes from her thigh to her hands. "Uiharu, any ideas on how to deal with this thing?!" She leaped back as the machine fired several grenades in rapid succession, teleporting and running as fast as she could as it devastated the area around it.

"Uh, eyes? Optics! Go for its optics! The red glowing things on the front of it!" She shouted over the mic, clearly distracted with her own battle, which she seemed to be struggling with. The security robots were made for non-lethal apprehension, and were clearly not equipped to deal with the spider-bots whose legs seemingly were made of blades.

She saw the grenade launcher spin at her again, and quickly teleported herself once more, landing on top of a parked car before launching two of the spikes at the red glowing orbs, managing to pierce them horizontally, all four lights flickering violently as the circuitry inside was impaled. The machine stumbled for a moment before a red light lit up on the grenade turret. An idea struck her as it switched optics. She held up the other two spikes and waited, staring the machine down, focusing on it, focusing her eyes on the rotary system. Both began to rotate and she launched both into the barrel's of the turret, spiking through it and blocking the barrel as both grenades launched and struck the spikes, detonating in a rather glorious explosion that blew the turret and upper half of the robot apart, one of its metal legs going flying off and crushing a car window.

The machine heaved and groaned before it collapsed onto the street. The four spider robots rather suddenly dropped down onto the ground as well. Apparently they were slaved to it. Silence echoed through the night with the exception of the burning landscape caused by all the explosions.

"Shirai? Are you OK?" Uiharu asked with a frightened, shaking voice. Kuroko had to take a moment to compose herself before answering.

"Y-yeah. I am." She said, panting as she slowly approaching the burning wreck of the massive machine. She jumped as the front panel of the robot suddenly blasted off, causing her to leap back. A small monitor stared back at her that was clearly previously hidden behind the face plate, partially pierced by one of the spikes. The screen flickered and unleashed some static before coming to a plain black screen, partially ruined by destroyed pixels on one corner, with a single blinking block. Text began to scroll across the screen.

"BACK OFF. ONLY WARNING. -INDIGO"


	13. Chapter 13 - Mikoto

Mikoto was glad she'd stolen those codeine from a nearby pharmacy. She had to use her powers to occasionally jolt herself to wakefulness, but she didn't feel a damn thing. Hopefully, that would not be a problem.

"Alright… I've been at this for three days. I've taken out 90% of their assets, the project must be at a stand-still by now…" She muttered as she slid down an empty hallway into an industrial area of the facility.

"This ends tonight. I just hope everything goes according to plan..." She growled as she ran out of the hall into the twisting labyrinth of pipes and metal walkways. As she exited her hiding spot, she heard a brief loud hissing sound followed by metal grinding against metal, her electromagnetic senses noticing a barrage of debris falling from above her. As the metal collided into the ground, it found its way around her without touching her.

"But I guess that was wishful thinking." She said with a scowl, her hand emitting brief electric shocks around her as she readied for resistance. She leaned forward and moved into a run as she dashed into the facility, that same hissing sound reaching her ears as she felt something approaching, instinctively leaping out of the way of it. She spun in place, seeing what looked like some kind of line on the floor bursting into rapid moving bright flame, rapidly approaching a… doll? Some kind of stuffed rag doll. The flame hit it and with a bright flash exploded into metal shrapnel that she quickly sent flying around her with a magnetic field.

"Who puts a bomb in a DOLL!?" She yelled, sliding to a stop and looking around, spotting many more similar dolls of various animals and rag dolls, all of which seemed to have lines of tape stretching to them in a convoluted network of fuses. Well, shit. Reaching toward the pile of metal debris that they'd attempted to crush her with, she pulled two large metal slabs of metal to her side, using them as a shield as more of the bombs were set off by her unknown assailant.

"Those fuses are so obvious, why would they-" She paused as she heard a clicking sound, her head twisting fast toward the sound where she saw another doll wedged into the framework of the metal slab she'd been using as a shield. With a slightly panicked movement, she sent it flying away from her, the explosion blasting out of each end of the framework.

Hearing more unpleasant sizzling sounds of fuses being lit, she quickly looked around, seeing the lit fuses flying toward more doll-bombs. Acting fast, she flung her own magnetic field away from the explosions, flying bodily into a wall with a very painful slam. Sliding down it, she got to her feet, growling from the pain.

"That… hurt." She hissed, panting as she stood up. Her eyes fell onto the fuses. They had to be lit somehow, by someone, so if she just followed them…

As Mikoto began to race through the facility once more, her eyes spotted a figure on a metal staircase leading to one of the upper levels. The girl paused in her ascent to turn her head and meet Mikoto's eyes with one of her own, giving her an arrogant smirk. That was her target. She flung an electric bolt at her, which narrowly hit a metal beam instead of her target as the girl continued to run up. As she sprinted around a corner, running low to the ground, her eyes focused on her target, she heard a pop next to her as she crossed a threshold of another corner, her senses detecting something non-metallic flying at her quickly. Not breaking her line of sight on her target, she gave it a quick zap and continued on her way, feeling it break up from the shock.

Her heart began to pound in increasing anger as she got to the stairs. "I will kill anyone who helps these fucking experiments." She growled with an emotional hate that weighed like a rock in her gut. The girl twirled at the top of the stairs, putting a hand up to her mouth in a faux-terrified expression.

"Such a scary expression! She'll DEFINITELY tear me apart if she catches me!" She said in a too-sweet voice that made Mikoto's stomach turn. "Just kidding~!" Mikoto heard more of that shearing sizzling sound as more fuses around her went off, feeling like the floor beneath had suddenly given way. Because it had, practically disassembling itself as gravity started to seize control of her and all the metal surrounding her.

"HAH! Got… you?" She heard the girl begin to say, pausing in her celebration. "...Huh?"

Mikoto stood upon her own makeshift staircase of metal debris, all magnetized to obey her instructions. "You know, if you really wanted something like that to work, maybe rebuild this whole place. And not use metal. At all. Idiot."

"You can't be serious! Cheater!" She heard the girl cry out as she ducked a few more electric shocks from Mikoto with a cry of surprise, tearing off out of sight. Mikoto ran up the debris and after her, spotting her turn the corner into another room.

Sliding to a halt in front of the large archway, she saw the girl having come to a stop in what appeared to be an enormous boiler room of some kind- and a dead end.

"Dead end, huh… So, was this a mistake or do you have something else up your sleeve?" Mikoto asked as she walked in, adjusting her hat slightly to raise it up, her eyes most definitely showing the dark bags she had under them as she stared at the girl, who she now finally had a decent view of. She was a blonde girl in a beret, long sleeved black blouse and white skirt, a little handkerchief wrapped around her shoulders.

"Well, I certainly didn't expect to wind up pushed back here, that's for sure…" The girl replied with a light nervous chuckle, a bead of sweat sliding down her face.

Mikoto took a few more steps into the room, glancing around for a second before bringing her eyes back onto the girl. "So, I guess I should ask. You work for the company? Or are you just some mercenary? You seem a bit atypical." She asked, adjusting her hat again. "You might want to take a moment and consider your options. If you get in my way, I'll leave you as nothing but charcoal. This place is psychotic and evil, you'd be better not to be part of it." Mikoto threatened with a level of seriousness that seemed to amuse the girl.

"Meh. Whatever." The girl said, waving off Mikoto's words with a casualness that irked Mikoto. "Our clients do what they do, and they hire us to kill or hurt who they want. We wouldn't exactly be very good mercenaries if we got caught up in the little things." She giggled, her face obscured a bit as she leaned forward, nothing short of an evil smile on her face.

"I mean, really…" The girl grinned wider as a loud pop of an explosion went off, and an enormous slam was heard behind her, Mikoto feeling some kind of giant metal gateway having blocked off her retreat. "Boom!" The girl yelled, Mikoto looking up to see dozens of those dolls pouring down at her, her eyes widening a bit. "No escape! No shield! TIME TO DIE!" The girl yelled in victory as she threw what looked like pointed needles at the ground, lighting an array of fuses that raced toward Mikoto.

"Yeah… guess I kind of asked for this one." She sighed, rubbing the side of her head with one hand, raising her other hand in a casual movement. The entire floor in front of her lifted up with a loud groaning crashing sound, cutting the fuses that were flying toward her. She saw the expression just over the edge of the now angled floor of the crazy bomber girl, which was twisted into shock and a tinge of fear.

Mikoto leaped forward over the top of the broken floor, her eyes leaving the girl for just a second. As she began to race toward her, she noticed the girl pulling her hat down to cover her face, and something dropping toward the ground. With a sudden flash and bang, she was hit by, appropriately, a flashbang grenade, rendered blind and deaf suddenly, nearly tripping over her own feet as she was robbed of her senses.

She cursed as she tried to get her bearings, falling back on her electromagnetic sense, since nothing else was working to help her. Her heart began to pound as she noticed that her senses were… pulsating. She'd been relying on them for incidental things, but the thought occurred to her rather suddenly that she hadn't sensed that bullet when it hit her. She was too panicked at the time to consider it.

Unfortunately, she did not have long to contemplate on this realization as she sensed her opponent moving quickly, pulling something vaguely angular from under her skirt. Three fast moving objects went barreling straight for her, and the dolls that had littered the battlefield before, striking down with an impressive explosion.

* * *

"I WIN!" Frenda leaped up and down as the smoke filled the room, laughing and jumping around with immense pleasure. "Ohhh, half that pay out is miiine!" She sung out to the room, overjoyed she could blast that obnoxiously arrogant Esper to pieces.

"Oh, what to buy, what to buy~?!" She sung as she spun around, sliding to a stop as she looked over at the scorch mark where the body… should… be. She blinked as she stared at the scorched and damaged ground where the body, or pieces of, should have been lying, but all she saw was… scorched ground. And nothing else.

Then… that means….

"You've really done your homework."

Oh no.

* * *

Mikoto walked up from behind the girl, her hand raised and eyes closed as she stepped forward. Running along the walls and ceiling to circle around had been mildly fun, she had to admit.

"But you've never faced someone who can both sense electromagnetic waves of motion and can stick to just about anything. Ah ah! No sudden moves!" She said, her hand sparking as the girl had begun to move again. Mikoto slowly opened one eye as she began to regain her vision.

The girl turned in place, giving her doe eyes and tears, none of which Mikoto even slightly bought. She'd just tried to blow her up.

"Alright, now you're-" Mikoto began, cut off as the girl turned and began to cry out words that she just plain did not understand. It wasn't Japanese, or French, or anything like that. It threw her off guard as she blinked in surprise. The girl then grinned wildly.

"Like it! I just made it up!" She yelled before throwing something at her. A vial. Mikoto reacted on reflex, blasting it with a quick jolt of electricity, which caused an explosion to momentarily obscure her vision. Really, ANOTHER bomb?

She stumbled back and righted herself, her vision and hearing fully back now, but the strain of everything was getting to her. She still couldn't feel much of anything due to the codeine, but mental fatigue of keeping her body moving was settling in. She knew her body was getting slower. She blinked and looked around the room, noticing some kind of smoke had filled the space.

"Like it? Academy City's very own explosive: Ignis." She grinned madly at Mikoto. "One spark and this whole room will go up in flames." She stepped forward, crouching down before leaping forward and throwing a kick at Mikoto, who threw up her arms quickly in defense, wincing as her arms were hit with a shock, causing her to stumble. This… This was bad. Without using her powers to shock herself and give herself slight muscle adjustments, the exhaustion and drugs were starting to hit her and she was struggling to keep her eyes from closing.

She couldn't use her abilities, she was barely conscious, this was very, very bad! She ducked out of the way of another swipe from the girl's hand, her hat going flying off of her head, something she did not have long to contemplate as she felt fingers suddenly grab her hair. She let out a loud scream as she was bodily flung a good distance by her hair, the pain excruciating and more than a few locks coming out. Mikoto scrambled to her feet, looking around rapidly and spotting the girl above her coming down for a smashing kick, diving out of the way while panting, the gas starting to get to her.

 _What the hell is wrong with her? She's going to set off the gas herself like this, does she have a death wish?!_

"Stupid little girl." Her opponent snickered at her, holding her fighting stance. "I've been at this for quite some time. You think I'm scared to die like YOU are?" She giggled before rushing in again, beating and pounding away at Mikoto. Not even attempting to be lethal, seeming to just being intent on taking advantage of Mikoto's weakness.

Within a few minutes, Mikoto was panting and bleeding from the barrage of attacks, having more than once collapsed and nearly lost consciousness. Nothing really hurt, thank you codeine, but that same thing that stopped the pain was making her sluggish and drowsy.

"Such a trooper, you are." Her opponent giggled, hopping from one foot to the next. "But I suppose I should stop playing and finish you off before Mugino and the others get here." She grinned as she tapped her toe on the ground, a small knife unsheathing from the back of her shoe.

"You know… there's something so… invigorating about that final kill, you know? I'm sure you do. I've seen the death counts on those labs." Mikoto's eyes widened at the words. "Oh my! Had you not even considered what you're doing could KILL people?" She broke into giggling laughter. "You really are a dumb little girl!"

Mikoto had thought about it, but made a point of not looking. Maybe trying to deny the possibility to herself, or assure herself she hadn't by not looking. It was hypocrisy and she knew it.

"As I pluck away a life… in the end… it was like this loser was born here just to die by my hand." She grinned, throwing her hair to the side before rushing in again and swinging her leg in a backwards roundhouse at Mikoto. "Time for your exit! GIVE ME A GOOD SCREAM!" She yelled, smashing her leg into Mikoto.

Mikoto growled as she found her adrenaline spiking for a moment, holding on to the girl's leg, even as the knife floated just centimeters away from stabbing her. "Born to die…?"

"I guess some are… but to accept it… to let it happen…? SCREW! YOU!" She yelled, smashing her knee into the girl's leg and sending her flying back, the girl crying out in pain as she stumbled backward.

As the girl spun around to charge again, determined to outlast Mikoto, she paused, looking up. Mikoto had heard it too. Some kind of… beeping sound. They both looked around, and began to notice… security cameras? They had been off previously, so Mikoto hadn't noticed them, but one by one, they turned on, little red lights signaling power. There had to easily be two dozen… far more than should have been in a boiler room.

"The hell?" The girl muttered. Mikoto had a similar sentiment, but was distracted as she was hit by a cough. She blinked as her electromagnetic senses seemed to kick on automatically, despite her attempts to not use any of her powers at all for risk of setting off the explosive. As they seemed to disobey her, she sensed… something in the air. The air was surprisingly conductive, more so than it should have been, and her cough was getting worse. The girl had turned to look at Mikoto as she coughed, and all Mikoto could wonder was why she was coughing and her opponent was not. Her opponent seemed divided, like she wasn't sure whether to rush her to take advantage or not, the bizarre situation creating some hesitation.

Rather suddenly, Mikoto felt a rush of power go up her spine, and she quickly grabbed at it with her mind, trying to restrain it as electricity escaped from her body against her wishes, lashing out and seeming to be lured to every electronic device in the room- with the exception of the cameras.

"Are you insane?" The girl asked, seeming floored that she would risk setting off the gas- which wasn't exploding, Mikoto noted- but Mikoto was too absorbed in the strange rampant power of hers to care. As tendrils of electricity arced through the gas, which was acting as a conductor, tearing into the industrial equipment… and then suddenly reversing.

"W-what, no!" Mikoto yelled, fear filling her heart as her most valuable ability seemed to betray her, and electricity was drained from the power grid, rushing into her. The smoke obscured her vision as she appeared to be electrocuted, the mercenary girl only staring in slack-jawed surprise as Mikoto screamed out, her skeleton periodically visible as she was filled with immense amounts of electricity.

It was too much. Millions of watts a second were rushing into her body, and she didn't know how to stop it. And then… she didn't want to. She began to gasp as she felt more alert, more awake, and for a moment the pain that the drug had been suppressing returned, but quickly faded. She felt like she'd slept for days, felt a rush of health imbuing into her. The cuts and bruises she'd gotten from the girl's beating closed and vanished. There was a loud shuddering sound as almost everything went dark, the power grid finally giving up and causing a blackout for who knows how many blocks.

Mikoto tasted the air as she panted on her hands and knees after collapsing. Copper-y. It tasted like copper. Her mind leaped to the security cameras, trying to find who was looking through them, and found only one thing as every camera shut off instantly. A small word document wedged into a hard drive buried several buildings away.

" _No peeking~"_

She couldn't dwell on it. She didn't know how long she had before that girl killed her. As she stood up, she threw up an arm and caught a kick that was aimed right for her, feeling a boot knife that was centimeters from piercing her side.

"The same trick again, huh?" Mikoto hummed, feeling stronger than ever before. She pushed at the girl's leg, this time finding it far easier, much to the shock of the woman.

"Something seems to have not gone quite how you meant it." Mikoto said with a smile that clearly unnerved the girl. She broke into a nervous smile and laugh.

"Uh… oopsie?" She said cutely, tapping her head with one wrap of her knuckles, even as she balanced on a single leg, her other firmly in Mikoto's grasp.

"Oopsie." Mikoto agreed, before shocking her and throwing her across the room, which gave her one of the most cathartic feelings of her entire life.


	14. Chapter 14 - Kuroko

Uiharu paced through the office, her heart pounding in her chest, periodically peeking out the window in a sort of paranoid fashion. Everything had happened so fast, and she'd been so focused on acting in her role as Shirai's support that it had allowed her to push the terrified emotions she currently felt out of her head. But now… now it was all coming crashing down, and she was having some serious difficulty maintaining her calm.

"This is so… so awful…" She whimpered as she moved about the office. Right, Shirai had told her to get ice packs, lots of ice. For some reason. She hurried over to their first aid kit, putting it on the table as she tried to patiently wait for her Judgement partner to appear out of thin air in the room. A soft knock at the door, followed by it slowly opening nearly made her jump out of her skin.

"Hey, Uiharu." Kuroko sighed as she walked inside, closing the door behind her, looking exhausted. Uiharu was surprised she hadn't just teleported in. Her eyes fell down on Kuroko's arms and they went wide with panic.

"Oh my god! What did they do to you!?" She cried out, pointing at Kuroko's arms.

From her mid-upper arm all the way to the tips of her fingers, Kuroko's arms were covered in thick, purple and black bruising, covering every inch of her skin, but stopping short at the upper arm rather abruptly.

"O-oh? This… well…" She winced as she moved into the room, her arms hanging at her side weakly. "Uh, they didn't, actually. I did this. You have that ice?" She asked, Uiharu nodding as she grabbed an ice pack. "Yeah, also-" The door opened with a slam as Uiharu began to speak.

"I'M HERE!" Saten yelled, holding an array of items in her grasp, armed with a baseball bat, a giant bag of ice, and a plastic bag from a grocery store.

Kuroko had leapt into a defensive stance instantly, before freezing and looking shocked at Saten's arrival.

"I also called Saten-san to get some more ice." Uiharu finished, Kuroko turning and glowering a bit at Uiharu, looking none too pleased, even as her bruised arms fell to her side.

"Why did you involve-" Kuroko didn't get to finish her statement before a very cold sensation hit her arm as Saten pressed some ice against it, causing Kuroko to shudder.

"Hey! You guys have been leaving me out of the loop about things, and I don't appreciate it. We've been through a lot together." Saten scolded Kuroko, grabbing on to her shoulder and shoving her over to the couch and pushing her down on it. Moments like these reminded Kuroko just how physically strong Saten was. "Now what is with your arms? Start there." Saten asked as she went to work on one arm, covering it in cloth and ice as Uiharu did the same to the other arm, the teleporter wincing and clenching her jaw as they did. Uiharu was also making a point of looking under Kuroko's skirt at her stomach to check her old wounds from not terribly long ago, prompting just a slight blush at Uiharu's serious brazenness.

"...Well, as you two know, our powers work off of Personal Realities. At its most basic core, it is the concept of Espers redefining how their reality affect probability in relation to their own perception, right?" She asked, watching the pair one at a time, as they flanked her, both nodding, even as they worked on icing her wounds, making her wince more.

"...Right, well. The Power Curriculum Program is not perfected, we're still learning in Academy City. That's why everyone isn't a Level 5. Not everything works the same for everyone, and we all have different techniques and drugs and procedures that help us develop our powers. For me, my teleportation has always been in relation to my hands and arms, in connection to my brain. Things I touch I can teleport, and by proxy of my arms being a part of me, I can also teleport myself. This took a lot of work to develop, and there are only 52 teleporters among 2.3 million people in this city. Compare that to, say, Electromasters, which I last counted as coming in at about five thousand. Obviously, the single most powerful and glorious of these Electromasters is Onee-sama." Kuroko explained, leaning back into the couch and closing her eyes for a moment, letting them ice her arms.

A silence stretched for a moment before the pair leaned back from her, both her arms properly covered in icy rags. She opened her eyes tiredly, smiling at them and nodding in thanks.

"There is not a lot of data on how to create a teleporter, nor data on how to advance one. Trust me, I have read every single scholarly and theoretical document released on Academy City's network regarding my abilities." She sighed a bit, looking down at her arms again.

"Anyway… I use my tactile sensations to help focus on how I do my calculations. Initially, I could only teleport objects and other people, as I used myself as a fixed point in space to move things from one point to another, keeping everything in relation to where I was physically. I'm sure you've heard the stories of people injuring themselves by popping blood vessels in their bodies through over-focusing? Bending a spoon so hard you nearly cause internal brain bleeding?" She asked, both of them nodding gravely as they took a seat across from her on the other couch.

"Well… That is what I did tonight. I know my hard limitations. I've taken a lot of time to learn them. I know weight and distance maximums. I CAN ignore them. My problem has never been about bypassing limitations to increase my power." She sighed. "...It's been about doing so without harming myself. These arms… they're like my anchor to my powers, and my shackles against development. Remember when you asked me why I loved Onee-sama so much, Uiharu?" Kuroko asked, looking up at her, the flower-girl nodding in response.

"Well…"

* * *

The application process to join Tokiwadai was brutal, and painstakingly unforgiving. The girls-only school took only the absolute best of the best, denying even royalty from being admitted if they did not meet their extreme standards. That was why there was rarely more than two hundred students at any one time in the entire school.

Kuroko had been determined to be admitted, to make her family proud, to make HERSELF proud. She didn't care what it took. The grueling three-day application process demanded she impress the proctors, and she knew that meant that she had to push her limitations.

And she had. She had teleported herself a solid ten feet from the starting point without getting stuck in anything, and with no visible strain. She had puffed her chest up proudly as she was dubbed a Level 4 and admitted. She had done herself proud.

It just made her cowering behind one of the buildings, fighting sobs of pain that much more difficult. Her arms were bruised beyond belief, her head pounded in agony, the strain of teleporting herself in defiance of her practiced powers having been far too much. The gloves she'd been able to wear had covered the bruising before it had settled in and been obvious. She had hidden herself so no one could see the damage, or see her pathetic state.

"Hey, are you OK?" She heard a voice call out, forcing her to try to stand and move quickly She couldn't be seen!

"Y-yes, I'm fi-" She paused as her arm was grabbed, letting out a sobbing cry of pain she couldn't hold in as a chestnut-colored haired beauty looked at her with eyes that matched her locks, scowling in seriousness. Kuroko stared at her, some level of recognition there, but too distracted to place it.

"Sit down." The girl said in a commanding tone, which Kuroko began to object, earning her a shush.

"Listen to your elders!" She yelled, pushing the girl down onto the ground by her shoulders. Kuroko was on the ground rather quickly, and terrified. This girl could tell the proctors, she could ruin everything. The girl grabbed her arm and seemed to focus on it, her hands making the skin tingle as Kuroko suddenly gasped and sat up straight, feeling like she'd just licked a battery across her entire body. Her muscles began to twitch and move of their own accord, and she found herself melting into the touch, the pain seeming to just… vanish.

"You really did a number on your muscles and nerves." The chestnut girl said, running her hand up and down the arm as the other held onto Kuroko's wrist.

"W-what are you… doing?" Kuroko gasped out with a blush.

"Your nerves are on fire from the strain, which means electrical pain signals to your brain." The girl explained. "I'm going to help turn them off for a bit. The damage will still be there, but I can help alleviate the pain while I do this." She said, moving to the other arm rubbing it the same way. Kuroko watched her as she leaned into the wall of the building, half-melted into it at this point. The feeling of tiny zaps and muscle massage was heavenly. The situation was made more-so when the girl pressed her forehead against Kuroko's, prompting an intense redness across the teleporters face. She felt similar signals of electricity flying through her forehead and into her brain, and while the idea that someone, an Electromaster evidently, was doing something that could be so dangerous was terrifying, the pain relief and slight euphoria was just… too much to refuse.

Too heavenly. Too… perfect.

* * *

Kuroko finished telling her tale as she leaned back, her face red and smiling as she seemed nostalgic, emotional, even vulnerable.

"That was the first time I met Onee-sama. She stayed with me, for the rest of the day, and the rest of the night, and kept easing my pain even after I had fallen asleep from the paradise of her touch. For hours and hours she kept me in comfort, me, a foolish, stubborn little girl." Kuroko ended with a sigh, closing her eyes.

"I had badly hurt myself because of my pride. And I was privileged enough to witness someone who stands above the rest sit down with someone like me, for hours and hours and hours, from when the sun was high in the sky until the crack of dawn, use her powers to alleviate pain I rightfully deserved. When I found out who she was, I was humbled, and I knew that I had stumbled upon the one person I could devote my life too, even if she never returned my feelings." Kuroko sighed once more, opening her eyes and looking to her two friends. Saten looked rather shocked at the story, and Uiharu, in typical Uiharu fashion, was crying.

"That's so sweeeet!" Uiharu whined out, prompting Kuroko to just scowl a bit and blush from embarrassment.

"Before you two go any further, we need to talk about tonight. Saten, did Uiharu fill you in on what happened?" Kuroko asked, to which Saten gravely nodded. "Death squads and killer robots…?" Saten said, wincing. "What is this, some kind of movie?" She said with a grimace.

Uiharu wiped her face off and put on a serious expression. "And we now know that that Indigo person knows we're looking into this, and is definitely a serious danger. He threw a lot of resources and lives at you as a 'warning'. I admit, I… I'm kind of terrified." Uiharu confessed, pulling her legs up to her chest.

Kuroko nodded. "I am too… you two should really consider whether or not you want to stay involved. The culprit likely only knows about me." Both of them scowled at her.

"Stop that, you know we're here for you and Mikoto. We need to decide our next move." Saten replied, Uiharu nodding vigorously in agreement. Kuroko blinked and smiled at that. Always so loyal.

Kuroko stood up and moved over to her desk, opening it and pulling out some shoulder length gloves, removing the ice packs and pulling them on, which perfectly covered the bruising. Always prepared, evidently.

"For now… I just… I need to sleep." Kuroko admitted, rubbing her face with a wince, seeming pained just to move her arms. The two nodded in agreement.

"I'm… gonna sleep here tonight. I think. I'm gonna call Haruuhe." Uiharu stood up and grabed her phone from her pocket, walking over to the corner of the room while Saten grabbed some blankets and pillows stored here for just such an occasion.

As Uiharu walked off, Kuroko felt like she was forgetting to ask her something, but was too tired to remember, and resigned herself to collapsing onto the couch. Saten cavalierly threw a blanket on top of her as Uiharu returned. They all got comfortable and settled in, Saten lying on the floor and letting Uiharu take the other couch.

"Well, good ni-" Saten began, stopping as a loud rumble shook the building, an incredibly loud clap of thunder, with a torrential pour of rain heard beating onto the roof suddenly as everything went dark, the distinct sound of the power grid failing being heard.

"...What the hell?" Kuroko breathed out.


	15. Chapter 15 - Mikoto

"FUUUUUUUUUU-!" Frenda cried as she was electrocuted again, trying to crawl away from the Electromaster as her muscles convulsed. "W-what kind of f-f-f-freak c-c-can heal with e-e-electricitEEEEEEK!" She didn't get to finish that electric-stuttering thought as she was shocked again, Mikoto admittedly enjoying some payback for the savage beating the girl had given her just a bit ago.

"Frenda, right?" Mikoto asked as she resumed her interrogation. She'd gotten a name so far, and that was about it. She was remarkably uncooperative. "Just so we're clear. The reason you aren't charcoal… well, let's just say I wouldn't lose any sleep over your corpse." She said coldly as she walked out of the smoke toward her. "So, you mentioned that some people were on the way? Start there." She instructed the girl as the crawling figure moved up against some pipes for support.

Frenda let out a scoff. Her expression simply screamed how little she took Mikoto seriously. Let's fix that. Mikoto unleashed a lightning bolt into a nearby box-y machine full of gauges and dials, the entire thing exploding and collapsing onto the ground. Frenda's eyes shot open as wide as they could go as she stared at the fried machine.

"See that? That's you if I don't start getting answers in the next _three seconds_." Mikoto said in a low, quiet, angry growl at the girl.

"Three." She began, the girl opening her mouth and began to gesture quickly. "Two." More gesturing. Still no words. "One." The panic on the girl's face intensified as she threw up her arms defensively.

"Zero." She raised her arm, pausing, honestly debating on her next course of action. "Hm, won't sell out your friends, huh? I guess-" Then she felt it. A sudden massive spike of energy to her left, her head turning as she saw a molten red dot appear on the metal wall, prompting her to quickly leap backward as an emerald beam of light that radiated heat flew past her, melting everything in its path.

"Well, well, well, looks like you were getting your ass handed to you, Frenda. I could have sworn I instructed you to wait for backup." A woman in a violet short dress stepped through the massive person-sized hole in the wall surrounded by molten slag, with brunette hair and a mean look on her arrogant face. A part of Mikoto also found her eyes descending down onto her chest and was filled with instant boob-envy. Damn insecurities.

A smaller, quieter woman with short dark hair and modest jeans and t-shirt had followed the other woman in through the hole, and the three seemed to be discussing something that Mikoto was too irritated and distracted to listen. Her eyes went down to one of the cuts on her arms. Frenda, as she now knew the girl's name, was right. She'd never healed herself from absorbing electricity, which was beyond bizarre. She noticed a copper-colored shean across the skin where the cut had been, which was more than a little concerning. Her powers were behaving erratically, and against her wishes, and her mind just floated back to the poison her doctor had found in her bloodstream.

But that was Later-Mikoto's problem. Now-Mikoto's problem was the woman in front of her not watching her, which she decided to reward with a massive piece of metal debris that was lying in the room, throwing the hunk of metal at the woman.

To her shock, the woman turned her head, raised a hand, and instantly vaporized the metal, smirking.

"Feisty, feisty." The woman grinned widely, raising up her index and middle finger, pointing them at Mikoto, who wasted no time in diving out of the way as a large green beam shot at her, vaporizing everything it hit. Mikoto flung herself upward, clinging to a metal support beam and tossing a few more metal debris at the woman, who twisted her hand to create a green disc-shaped field of energy that disintegrated the metal. "Well, well, isn't that a useful little ability. You're like a spider~!" The woman said in a mocking tone, that irritating grin on her face.

Mikoto did not have time for this nonsense. "Fuck this." Reaching up, she grabbed at the piping and supports of the ceiling with her magnetic field, pulling them down hard onto the room and twisting around to flee, the metal creating a smoke screen she used to her advantage.

Mikoto tore a hole in the metal wall open with magnetism and leaped through it, sprinting down the hall as she went looking for her ACTUAL target. She didn't have time to fight every mercenary this sick project threw at her.

Mikoto flung herself down another metal hallway, landing on the ground and breaking into a sprint. She had to find that armory where they stored- What was that? A tingling feeling. She lurched forward quickly out of reflex, and a large green beam blasted through the upper wall and nearly hit her.

"How in the fucking hell!?" She yelled, and quickly threw herself up onto the ceiling as another beam of energy sliced through the metal of the building. How in the hell did they know where she was?

She didn't have long to dwell on that thought as she continuously threw herself and leaped around, dodging beam after beam of energy that just tore through everything it touched. One hit from that and it would be over in an instant. Just as she landed, she heard a familiar sound of a fuse burning, and a quick glance spotted another bomb-doll, forcing her to grab some metal from the wall and shield herself as the bomb went off.

"This is such bullshit…" She growled out as she leaped back into movement, just in time to miss another green beam of death.

For several more minutes, Mikoto found herself in a near-constant full-tilt sprint, leaping around the walls and jumping past falling debris and exploding bombs and horrible energy beams, before rather abruptly the attacks just stopped. She paused in her movements, her reflexes twitchy as she prepared herself for another attack. But it didn't come.

Taking advantage of the break in assault, she dove into the next room she saw, closing the door behind her and stopping dead as she looked in the room. This was… what she was looking for. It was some kind of armory, and rather specifically, a large artillery shell was on noticable display toward the back of the room.

"Well, that's convenien-..." She trailed off as she approached the shell. This WAS convenient. Extremely convenient, and that bothered her. She pulled the messenger bag on her back off, scowling a little. What else could she do? Changing the plan now wouldn't do anything, and this was all she had to go with.

"Let's see what I can find in here…" She muttered, walking over to the shell that was floating in some kind of weird energy field. A flick of her wrist and the field shorted out, the shell floating over to her on magnetism and landing in her messenger bag with a heavy thump, Mikoto nearly falling over at the sudden weight. This thing weighed a ton. She hefted it over her shoulder and clipped the bag onto her back once more, taking a moment to look around the room for anything else that may prove useful. Those mercenaries were likely not going to make escape or destruction of this facility easy.

Two things stuck out at her. One looked like.. Earbuds? They were in a rather fancy metal case, held in place by styrofoam within. Looking down, she read the inventory label. "Noise-Suppression Audio Enhancement Augmentation…" She muttered. Well, she was already breaking and entering and blowing things up, so stealing wasn't exactly high on her concern list. She tossed them into her pocket and moved to run out of the room, skidding to a stop as she spotted a small oxygen rebreather lying on a table. She grabbed it, looking at the holographic display that displayed on a nearby pair of goggles, grabbing those too. Full. She wouldn't let herself get poisoned again if she had this… maybe it would help stop her powers from going out of control again.

Finished with her looting, and admittedly feeling kind of gross for acting like some burglar, she dashed down the hall toward the center of the facility. As she exited the hall into a large amphitheatre, she spotted what she had no doubt was going to be her opponent.

The older beam-shooting woman stood leaning against a pillar, seemingly waiting for her.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the Railgun." She said as she pushed off and moved toward the center of the room. Crap. They knew who she was.

"You certainly gave my employee a run for their money. But… I wanted to just settle this between you and me." She grinned a sharp toothed grin, seeming to possess a malice that made Mikoto bristle.

"What did I ever do to you?" She asked, not even recognizing the woman.

"You EXIST." She hissed, four green orbs appearing around her shoulders and head. "I can't believe a stupid little whore like YOU is above me in rank. Me! Meltdowner!" She growled, the orbs starting to pulsate violently.

"Well, I'll show them that rank means NOTHING when I tear you apart!" She yelled as the assault began, prompting Mikoto to quickly leap out of the way as beams of energy began to fire at her one after the other. Meltdowner. Academy City's 4th ranked Level 5 Esper.

Yeah, that was about right for her luck so far. Her legs pumped hard as the shots continued to come at her, keeping herself moving in a circle around her while using her magnetic field to grab at any piece of metal she could tear off the wall, floor, or ceiling and throwing it at the woman. Every time though, she would blast them out of the air, one by one. This was not working.

She skidded to a halt, dodging several more beams, one dangerously close to her face.

"Come on! This is pathetic! Is this all you can do!?" She yelled angrily, her barrage of attacks pausing as all four emerald orbs around her head began to glow and swell before she launched all four in a strafing shot along the ground near Mikoto. Sensing the ground shaking under her feet, she launched herself up at the ceiling as fast as she could as an enormous explosion shook the building, the floor bursting into a chorus of explosions where ever the beams had touched.

Mikoto clung to a pipe on the ceiling, her line of sight blocked from the smoke rapidly filling the room, energy beams randomly flying into the cloud as Meltdowner tried to hit Mikoto blindly. Mikoto replied in kind, sending a spear of lightning from her temple through the smoke at the source of the beams, the smoke blasted aside as the shot arced toward her opponent.

To her surprise, Meltdowner threw her hand to the side, deflecting the lightning into a nearby wall. Well, that settles one theory. Meltdowners powers weren't that different from her own. Meltdowner began to charge her attack again, and Mikoto's thoughts raced- she could let go, but that'd leave her as a falling easy target, and- she didn't have time to think. She quickly threw her hand up as four beams returned fire, growling as she strained herself, the four beams bending around her and burning into the ceiling behind her.

"Wow, I can't believe that worked." Mikoto said with relief, her heart pounding in her chest- come to think of it, she felt like her heart had been racing a mile a minute since she got hit with that copper-tasting gas. No time to contemplate it. She took advantage of Meltdowner's surprised reaction to grab at every bit of metal piping and support in the ceiling throwing all of it down at her, swinging herself up as the pipe she hung from joined the barrage that was showering at Meltdowner, surfing it downward as she stuck her feet to it with magnetism.

"Blast this!" Mikoto yelled, a sense of victory feeling her chest. Meltdowner reached underneath her dress, pulling something rectangular out as she smirked at Mikoto.

"OK." She threw it up into the air, one of her beams striking it- and dividing the beam up into dozens of blasts, Mikoto using her pipe surfboard to move herself just out of the way, twisting her body to avoid beams that just barely missed her, hitting the ground with an unpleasant smashing landing.

"Stupid little whore." Meltdowner mocked her, her footsteps approaching Mikoto as she peeled herself off the floor, feeling stupid.

"It's only logical to cover for your own weaknesses." She said, Mikoto standing up just in time to receive a solid kick to her gut, sending her rolling across the room, retching. At least she hadn't eaten lately, nothing to vomit up. Meltdowner hit like a truck.

Cover your weaknesses… Weaknesses. Weakness. Weak. Weak. She gasped as she looked up from the ground, pushing herself from the ground onto uncertain feet, looking around the room. The voices were calling out at her mockingly, her own voice… her clones voices.

"Weak… weak of will, weak of heart… we are dead because you are weak…" She heard them, and then saw them, their bloodsoaked bodies all around her as she began to swing her head quickly from side to side, stumbling to her feet and panting. What was happening?

"I didn't… I didn't mean to…" She cried out, putting her hands to her head, leaning down as she tried to block out the voices and the visions.

* * *

Meltdowner just stared down at her in disgust as she appeared to lose her damn mind.

"Pathetic… THIS is the Number 3 of Academy City?" She asked, looking beyond disappointed as she watched Mikoto stumble around the room, letting out a whimpering blubbering cry.

"Just… Pathetic." She charged her beam and unleashed it at the girl, aim to blow her head right off and be done with it. The beam swerved around the Railgun, slamming into a wall, even as she fell to her knees.

Mugino scowled, gritting her teeth, unleashing a barrage of attacks at her hated enemy, but every one of them was parried without the Railgun even seeming to notice.

"WHAT THE HELL!?" She yelled out, sending out a four beamed strafe around the girl, watching the ground explode and consume the girl in flames. She stared into the smoke, waiting.

"Well, I guess that settles tha-" She cut short as the ground began to shake and a crying scream cut through the air, the smoke surrounding Railgun swirling to show her unharmed, surrounded by a semi-visible barrier of… something. A magnetic field. Shit. The currents of air began to swirl around the room, the lighting flickering violently.

"What in the fucking…" Mugino stared, dumbstruck. She'd never heard of the Railgun having a power like this. Her earbud suddenly sparked to life as she heard Frenda's voice.

"MUGINO! GET OUT OF THERE NOW!" She heard her yell.

"What? Why?"

"It's… oh fuck, it's huge!" The entire building shook violently as she heard an explosion of some kind. "It's a storm! It's a huge storm, it came out of nowhere and it's getting closer to the ground!"

Meltdowner spun on Railgun, who at this point was staring up at the ceiling with her eyes rolled to the back of her head. Blood was pouring from various wounds on her body, mixed in with some kind of coppery substance. Meltdowner leveled her hand at the girl, and unleashed the biggest blast she could without blowing herself up at her, and watched as the beam simply diverted upward through the ceiling.

It was time to go.

* * *

"I'm sorry… I'm sorry…" Mikoto mouthed repeatedly as her world became a blur of pain and misery, and all she knew was guilt.

With a cry of pain she unleashed it all, and felt the building around her burst apart, metal and stone ripped to shreds as lightning and rain tore from the sky, leveling the area around her. She didn't know if anyone else was around her anymore, she couldn't even think, her mind was just a painful cracking, scratching agony. It twisted and hurt, and she felt countless voices murmuring in her head, and she just couldn't take it. She screamed and screamed until she felt her throat surrender to the pain, her voice dying out as collapsed onto the ground.

She didn't know how long she laid there, sobbing pitifully, expecting someone, anyone, to come along and put her out of her misery. But nobody came. She pushed herself off the floor, looking up at the wreckage she was surrounded by, soaked to the bone from a torrential downpour that had spawned from nowhere- no, not nowhere. She looked around the husk of the building she was in, standing on an island of stability untouched by the dozens of lightning strikes. She had done this. She was losing control of her powers again. She had done this.

She felt the weight of the Shell in her messenger bag, distracting her, but she pushed it out of her mind as she stumbled off of the island of hers, sliding down a small muddy slope, tripping and falling. She pushed herself up with a panting groan, holding on to her bleeding arm, her gleaming copper scars having vanished to give her new open wounds.

With a limp, she made her way out into the rain, and away from her latest sin of destruction.


	16. Chapter 16 - Mikoto and Kuroko

Mikoto groaned as she woke up, pushing herself up off the comforter of the bed. She felt like death. A quick glance at herself showed she'd managed to do some rudimentary first aid to herself before passing out, so at least she didn't bleed out after she fell unconscious on the bed.

With a wince, she managed to get on her feet out of the bed, throwing off the ruined and mud and blood covered clothing and limp over to the shower. Flicking it on, she removed the bandages and stepped in, sighing as days and days of built up filth began to slide off of her.

"What is even happening…" She gasped out, still wincing as the water irritated her wounds, but still felt heavenly.

"It is almost over. One more to go. One more… and this is over."

* * *

"Or… huh." Mikoto had dressed up in her uniform once more, using some binoculars to look at the last facility, her messenger bag on the ground of the roof she was staking out on.

"Doesn't look like anyone is home…" She hummed in thought, not sensing any electricity or anything at all in the building. She fished out her PDA and began to sift through the news, and found what she was looking for.

"...Bankrupt?" She smiled broadly as she read the article that listed the various affiliated companies with the project, one by one, having announced they were closing their doors and declaring bankruptcy due to a large variety of mostly made up reasons.

"It's… It's over." She gasped out as she paused her walk down the street, looking up into the sky.

"I still have a few things I need to take care of but… No more Sisters have to die."

* * *

Mikoto found herself wandering into the park, yearning for a place she found familiar and comfortable on the day of her victory. As she let out a pleased sigh, brushing some hair from her face, she heard a voice she recognized just off to her side.

"I say! You shall surrender the drink I rightfully paid for, vending machine!" Came the ever-so-haughty voice of Kongou, who seemed to be having an argument with a vending machine that Mikoto knew very intimately. She smiled a bit, and with a grin, walked over to her classmate.

"I got this, Kongou-san." She grinned, her classmate blinking in surprise at Mikoto's sudden arrival, and practically falling over in shock as Mikoto twisted her body into a roundhouse kick aimed right for the machine.

* * *

Kuroko had woken up first among the three of them, departed first, and now stood by a light pole at the diner they'd agreed to meet at over text. And, as Uiharu and Saten approached, the only expression that could be described on Kuroko's face would be, generously, "gloomy".

"S-Shirai-san?" Uiharu spoke up, lightly poking Kuroko's shoulder as Saten looked on, looking a bit concerned, before she jumped to action and pushed both of her companions toward a table outside of the diner.

After some insistent poking by Uiharu to get Kuroko back to earth, she let out a loud sigh. "It's just… so… too much." She mumbled, wiping her face off a bit with a handkerchief. "Last night's events, and before that, my fight with Onee-sama…" Both looked shocked at the notion that the two had something that Kuroko would consider a fight. "She doesn't trust me at all… won't tell me what's bothering her! Going out late, not coming home, for days on end!" Kuroko groaned out, covering her face with her hands. It was in typical Kuroko fashion that it seemed like Mikoto being angry with her was more concerning to her than death squads and killer robots.

"Hm, well… could be a boy?" Saten suggested, prompting Kuroko to rip her handkerchief with her teeth. The envy was painfully green in her eyes.

"Hey! That's not necessarily the case." Uiharu objected, which seemed to slightly mollify Kuroko. "Could also be a girl." She added in, Kuroko feeling like an anvil just hit her. "Staying out all night though…" Uiharu suddenly blushed intensely as Kuroko grabbed some tea in shaky hands and tried to sip at it.

Their thoughts were interrupted as a loud alarm went off in the distance, the trio spinning in their seats toward the park. "A vending machine alarm?" Uiharu thought aloud. If it was THIS park, and THAT vending machine…

"I got it!" Kuroko leaped up, waving off Uiharu as she tried to get up as well. "Don't worry about it, I'll let you know if I need help!" Kuroko vanished as she teleported toward the scene of the crime.

As Kuroko vanished, Saten and Uiharu gave each other a high five.

"I get dinner paid for if they kiss within the next week." Saten said with a smirk.

"Uh huh… Saten, please pick up all your baseball supplies you dragged to the office last night, they're sucking up space." Uiharu asked, sticking her tongue out at Saten.

* * *

Kongou was panting as she sat down on the bench, Mikoto next to her with a giant pile of soda cans.

"Well… those security bots showed up a lot faster than I expected." Mikoto panted out, wiping some sweat from her forehead.

"Honestly, Misaka-san… I've never seen you so brash!" She began to cool herself with her trademark fan. Mikoto thought for a moment, remembering how most of her schoolmates didn't really know her that well. She was just riding such an intense high from victory.

"Y-yeah, sorry. I have history with that vending machine." She laughed, offering Kongou a soda. "Here, I got your money's worth." She smiled, Kongou taking the soda hesitantly.

"How are your injuries? It seems like they haven't gotten much better… I still am so terribly sorry." Kongou said as she looked over Mikoto's form, which had several bandages still wrapped around it.

"H-huh? Oh! Yeah, they're healing fine, just a bit stubborn is all." She waved off, not wanting to delve deeply into her night time activities and drag anyone into that mess with her.

"I'm glad to hear it! Did you hear about last night? They say half the city suddenly lost power." Kongou said, Mikoto doing her best to look surprised. Oops.

"ONEE-SAMA!" She heard a familiar voice call out to her, prompting Mikoto to turn and see Kuroko approaching her, who froze as she saw Kongou on the bench with her. There was a moment of pause as Kuroko's eyes seemed to practically turn green. Mikoto's eyes were elsewhere however, specifically on Kuroko's gloved arms. Her eyes traced the length of the gloves, which disappeared underneath her sleeve. Mikoto knew what that meant.

"Hey, Kuroko." Mikoto snapped Kuroko out of her envious daze, pointing at her arms. Kuroko put her arms behind her back, blushing just a little.

"It's fine, just been doing some hard work with Judgement is all." She said dismissively, Kongou watching the conversation with interest and curiosity.

"Well… make sure you make some time tonight so I can help with that, OK?" Mikoto asked her softly, giving her a warm smile. Kuroko felt her heart flutter in her chest- Mikoto seemed suddenly so much happier.

"I owe that one to you, I think." Mikoto added softly, looking guilty, which Kuroko quickly waved off.

"I-It's fine!" She paused as her phone vibrated, pulling it out and scowling. "Anti-Skill has the worst timing…" She mumbled bitterly.

"I'll see you tonight, Onee-sama." Kuroko said with a smile, glancing to Kongou and pointing two fingers at her own eyes, then pointing those two fingers at Kongou. Kongou leaned back, hiding half her face behind her fan in surprise at the aggressiveness.

And with that, Kuroko teleported away.

* * *

Kuroko met up with Uiharu a bit of a ways from the park, at the supposed source of the black out. Uiharu had a small portable computer with her, sitting on a piece of broken wall as she typed away, and Kuroko just… stared.

The building, which had previously been a research institution of some kind, had been absolutely obliterated. An enormous crater with a small island of unharmed metal laid at the center of the blasted out husk of what the building once was. Water from the sudden downpour had flooded the crater with muddy water, and Kuroko felt something very familiar in the air. Static. Static electricity.

Her eyes narrowed as she looked over at Uiharu with concern, the girl sharing a similar expression, but clearly not one of recognition that Kuroko had.

"Onee-sama… did you…?" She muttered to herself as she stared out at the devastated landscape around them, where hundreds of lightning strikes had pierced down from the heavens and cleaved metal and stone and earth to pieces.

"...What is happening?"

* * *

Mikoto had said her goodbyes to Kongou, who had waddled away with an armful of soda's looking more than a little flustered, which Mikoto had to admit was fairly funny. Her humor was cut short as she felt a presence behind her, a presence that was all-too-familiar.

"Onee-sama." The monotone voice caused her to spin around and look at her mirror copy. Another clone.

"You… What are you doing here?" She asked defensively, thrown off-guard by her clones presence.

"Training." Was the simple reply.

Mikoto felt like a boulder had just been limped into her stomach. She quickly reached up and grabbed the Sisters arm, pulling her somewhere less out in the open, behind some bushes next to a light post.

"Training… for what?" She demanded to know, trying to control her breathing.

"The experiments." Was the once again simple reply. Mikoto felt a terrible voice in her head, several of them, murmuring madly, that scratching sensation returning at the back of her skull.

"But… no, they were shut down, I…" She trailed off, looking up at her clone.

"If Onee-sama is referring to the Level 6 Shift Projects, the experiments are proceeding as scheduled. Experiment 10020 was just completed." She said in an emotionless way that made Mikoto nearly fall to her knees. More… more have died. She covered her mouth as she felt the urge to vomit up the soda she'd drank minutes earlier. Another had just been killed. She had killed another one of her clones.

She hadn't stopped it? It was still happening? What could she do, what could she do?

Images of her dead clones flashed over her mind, and she began to question whether she was even speaking to a real person. She couldn't trust her own senses anymore, she couldn't trust her own mind, what else could she do!?

"Onee-sama. Onee-sama. Onee-sama, a small kit-"

"SHUT UP!" She screamed holding onto her head. "I can't take it anymore! Your voice, your face, everything, you all just keep haunting me!" She screamed, collapsing onto her knees, sobbing.

"...Affirmative. Misaka will take her leave now." She heard the genuinely shocked voice of the clone say, her footsteps marking her departure. Mikoto leaned back and fell on her rear, hugging herself.

"I'm just the worst…" She cried as she pressed her face into her legs.

* * *

Mikoto found herself staring wide-eyed and dumbstruck at her PDA, having gone to investigate how this project could still be alive.

"One hundred… and eighty three… separate facilities?" She gasped out, her hands shaking viciously. "How… How could they do something like that so fast?" She gasped out, stowing the PDA and exiting the terminal booth she'd been using, holding onto it for support. "No normal corporation can do that." She put her hand to her face, covering it as she tried to focus her thoughts on something… anything.

Her eyes shot open wide as she dropped her hand with realization. These experiments… they were being run outdoors, and Academy City was covered in security cameras and watched from on high by numerous satellites. Plus, the use of Tree Diagram had to go into record. All of this… there was no way the Board of Directors didn't know.

Tree Diagram.

She looked up into the starry sky, spotting a small flashing light hidden amidst the stars. Orihime II, the satellite that held the supercomputer in orbit. Her suffocating despair at the fruitlessness of her task began to give way to a familiar feeling, an anchoring emotion. Rage. Red, burning, hateful rage.

"I am going to rip you out of the sky." She hissed as she stared up at starry night, lights flickering around her as her powers raged.

"And I am going to _kill Accelerator._ "


	17. Chapter 17 - Kuroko and Mikoto

A/N One of my shortest chapters, but honestly, one of my favorites.

* * *

Kuroko brushed her hair in her silk pajamas, sitting in her and Mikoto's dorm room. She looked over her shoulder at Mikoto, who was sitting on her bed, slightly curled up, looking very depressed. She had been so energetic in the afternoon… Kuroko's eyes floated to her arms, which had silk gloves over them still. She was painfully self-conscious about the bruising, stupid as it was.

"Hey Kuroko." Kuroko snapped out of her thoughts as she was called, twisting and standing up quickly.

"Y-yes, Onee-sama?" She asked hastily.

"If I… If I brought disaster to Academy City… what would you do?"

The silence that followed was absolutely deafening. Doubts crept into Kuroko's mind, and she felt the urge to try to mollify it, to soothe the situation and assure herself that her doubts were unfounded.

"W-well, if this is about the vending machine, you really should stop doing that…" She said with a nervous laugh, Mikoto huffing indignantly in response.

"That stupid thing stole a 10000 bill from me, I paid for that stuff!" She puffed her cheeks out before turning away again.

"No… I mean if I did something big… horrible. Something that changed how this city lived its life…. What would you do?" She asked softly, still not looking at Kuroko. Kuroko stared at her, and images of the burned out husk of a building she'd seen earlier in the day flashed in her mind. What had Mikoto gotten involved in? What… no. She had to dissuade her from doing anything rash.

"...Even if it was you, my duty remains unchanged. I would stop you, even if you were my opponent." She said, putting her hand to her chest, trying to speak with absolute confidence. There was a pause as Mikoto stayed seated on the bed.

"Ouch." Mikoto said, Kuroko blinking.

"So you call me Onee-sama, but that sweetness is all just talk!" She said in faux sadness, wiping her face to clear away crocodile tears, Kuroko teleporting next to her frantically.

"N-not at all, Onee-sama! Since there's no chance you'd ever do something like, I was just quoting ideology! It was just ideology!" She explained frantically. Mikoto turned and grinned up at her, poking her forehead before grabbing onto her waist and pulling her down onto her own bed. Kuroko let out a yelp of surprise and found herself blushing rather intensely as Mikoto rearranged her so her back was up against Mikoto's chest.

"Pull those gloves off. Lemme see." She said, more demanded. Kuroko hesitated but did so, showing her black and purple bruised arms, Mikoto tensing a bit against Kuroko's back.

Silently, Mikoto reached forward and grabbed both of Kuroko's arms, running her palms from her mid upper arm down to her hands, before grabbing both hands in her own. Kuroko was almost rigid, surprised at just how… intimate Mikoto was being.

"You worry me sometimes." Mikoto sighed out as small jolts of electricity began to emanate into Kuroko's palms and up her arms. Mikoto had grown very skilled at using her abilities for this, having done it several times for Kuroko, and it wasn't long before Kuroko felt herself melting backward into Mikoto as her muscles tensed and relaxed in a pleasant massaging pattern, the pain fleeing from each limb.

"O-Onee-sama…" She moaned out quietly, her eyes half lidded as she found herself very… stimulated. Mikoto rested her chin on top of Kuroko's head, the electricity slowly flowing into there as well, easing the low-level migraine Kuroko had been secretly carrying. Mikoto could always tell.

"I worry about you, you know." Mikoto said softly, squeezing Kuroko's hands lightly, fingers interlacing with her friends. Friends… they were just friends, right? Those confused emotions boiled to the surface again in Mikoto's mind. And, admittedly, she did not feel like she had any right to anything or anyone. She'd let so many die…

She shook her head lightly, and instead, focused on helping relieve Kuroko's pain, and helping her feel pleasant. It was the least she could do. And… might be the last time she'd do it.

Kuroko was unsure how long they'd be doing this, and didn't want to ask, she just wanted this moment to last forever. She fought against the drowsy sleepiness that was invading her body, not wanting to drift away just yet, but every second found it more difficult before she finally surrendered to her dreams, her eyes fluttering closed.

Mikoto woke up after having drifted off to sleep as a sliver of sunlight hit her eye. She felt a light weight against her, looking down at Kuroko who was still sound asleep in her lap, her head nestled into Mikoto's throat, their fingers still interlaced. Confusing emotions filled her again, but she pushed them away, gently unweaving her body from Kuroko's and lying her head softly down onto the bed, taking a moment to stroke the top of Kuroko's scalp and stare.

It might be the last time she ever saw her. It probably would be.

"I'm sorry." She mouthed softly, walking over to her desk, she pulled out a piece of paper and wrote down something for Kuroko, grabbing her messenger bag and supplies, and quietly moved to the door.

"...Goodbye." She whispered, before quietly closing the door behind her.


	18. Chapter 18 - Mikoto

At this point, Mikoto was committed. She would, one way or another, be finishing this. Whether that meant Accelerator died, or she died, it would be over.

So, really, at that point, what were rules and laws anyway?

That was her logic at least when she broke into a vending clothes dispenser and took what she needed before running off to the train station. Sliding in and fooling the automated systems, she slipped into the bathroom, changing clothes quickly. An undershirt, sleeveless hooded shirt, some black sweatpants, and a pair of sneakers. Grabbing her Tokiwadai uniform that was balled up to her side, she gave it a brief look of longing before she threw it in the garbage, tying her messenger bag over shoulder and fastening the clip across her chest firmly. She felt the weight of her supplies, and taking a deep breath, stepped out.

As the train came to a stop, she made her way out, one of the only in this area at this time of the day, the sun nearly down. She walked along the road, before stopping about twenty feet from a chain link fence, numerous security bots patrolling around the perimeter of the property that contained the enormous satellite dish at the center of its perimeter. The Orihime II and Tree Diagram relay tower.

"Here we go." She said as she lifted the stolen gas mask to her face, which fastened itself to her face perfectly, and without further hesitation, rushed forward, throwing her arms out to fry a dozen security robots as they swerved to look at her, several of them exploding violently as the fence was blasted wide open.

* * *

Panic would describe the relay facility rather aptly as the enormous reinforced steel door was blasted right off its hinges and bolts by her railgun shot, having used some poor security robot as a projectile for it.

"You wanna live, then get the hell out!" Mikoto yelled, her voice slightly altered by the synthesizer built-in to the gas mask. Civilians didn't even pause to wait, most sprinting right out the door and away from the girl emanating electricity around her. Several armed guards unloaded their guns at her, all of which had their bullets get diverted by a magnetic field.

They fled then too.

"Yeah, thought so." She scoffed as she marched into the facility, security robots in the dozens getting decimated without effort. As she blasted the control room door down, she strode in, pulling a fire alarm next to the door while those within stared in shock and horror. She rounded her gaze on them.

"Leave or die. Make your choice."

Once again, all chose wisely as they sprinted out of the room.

Walking up to a control panel, she lowered the hood and removed the gas mask, placing her hand on the panel and seizing control of the systems rapidly with her powers, blasting through cyber-defenses that were not made to handle a Level 5.

Within seconds, she had access to Orihime II and Tree Diagram. Unsurprisingly, as she sifted through the various programs and procedures, they'd taken rather extreme measures to ensure she couldn't just tell the satellite to crash. Likely it couldn't leave its orbit without being shot out of the sky.

She sighed with slight sadness. She had expected this. It wouldn't be that easy. But that wasn't why she was here. She began to sift through old records until she found what she wanted: Project Level 6 Shift. If she wanted to kill Accelerator, she needed everything they had on him, and to use their own resources against them.

"How would Railgun defeat Accelerator?" She entered into the system, mumbling aloud her thoughts. She waited while the quantum supercomputer ran the simulation and popped out an answer.

 _CURRENT VARIABLES DICTATE IMPOSSIBILITY_

She ground her teeth but didn't give up. She knew this was going to be difficult. For what felt like hours, Mikoto inserted variable after variable after variable into Tree Diagram, and continuously got answers that she found far less than pleasing. It felt like Accelerator was some kind of immortal god, and she didn't understand why. There was no way he could be invincible. There were still thousand, if not hundreds of thousands, of variable she hadn't tried yet. Things Tree Diagram hadn't taken into account as she read through each simulation. The computer seemed painfully literal, or at least, demanded that every variable be taken into account. This is why they had so many damn facilities… just gathering all their variables.

She paused and shifted her attention for now, grabbing the schedule for the Level 6 Shift Project. She needed to know his location and include that in her variables. The next experiment was 10031 and it was occurring… oh no.

"No, no, no…" She quickly spun to a screen as she pulled up the security camera that was connected to the file. There she saw two people; her clone, crawling on the ground, and Accelerator, standing over her. She leaned against the screen, her eyes wide and teary.

"No… please don't." She begged at the screen as she watched Accelerator reach down and touch her open wound. "No, NO!" She screamed before the screen suddenly was obscured with a splatter of blood.

Mikoto slid down to her knees, slamming her fist against the ground, biting back tears. Once again, she fought the despair, and relied on her old friend. Rage.

She forced herself onto her feet, downloading everything she needed to her PDA- the next scheduled experiment, every record of the simulation she had, and the data concerning Tree Diagram that she so desperately needed right now. She didn't have long to make it to the next site.

"But first…" She stepped forward toward the center of the room, inhaling deeply as she focused, calling down lightning from a thunderstorm she had conjured from nothing, willing strike after strike against the building and the dish above her before she heard a loud groaning sound and dashed for the exit, hearing the shaking crash as the building-sized dish surrendered to her assaults and crashed down into the building, decimating the landscape as she flung herself out of the main door she'd blasted open earlier, dodging falling debris.

"Use that." She hissed as she fled toward her next location.

The Switchyard. And Accelerator.

* * *

She was here.

Standing atop an enormous crane arm, staring down at the hundreds of storage containers. She had her hood up, and a scarf she'd stolen from another vending machine, the gas mask concealed within the folded cloth that was wrapped around her neck. In one hand she had her PDA, looking over the details of Accelerators powers that the Level 6 Shift Project had been kind enough to document. Her eyes scanned every inch, while her electromagnetic senses felt everything around her.

The ground had many metal materials, and some plumbing… trains and storage containers in abundance, though she didn't have the time to search through every container, she'd have to make due. She felt the weight of the shell in her messenger bag, reminding her of just how suicidal this plan was. Tree Diagram had provided nothing helpful to her besides what WOULDN'T work. She couldn't have wasted more time with it, or the next Misaka would die while she fret. Her eyes looked up at the blinking light of Tree Diagram above her, above Academy City, watching.

"Hope you get a good show, you sick fucks." She growled unheard at the Board of Directors.

In truth, she was here for more than just Accelerator. She stood up and let her senses expand further beyond the switchyard, sensing her first target instantly. It was like looking for her reflection. Stashing her PDA, she turned and saw… her.

Leaping from the crane and flinging herself through the air with her magnetism, she landed a solid couple hundred yards away, stumbling slightly as she regained her balance, turning to face her clone. Misaka-10032. Her clones usual monotone face had shifted to one of surprise at her originals sudden arrival.

"Onee-sam-?" She didn't get a chance to finish that thought before Mikoto raised her arm up piping bursting from the street asphalt and wrapping around her tightly.

"Sorry. But I can't let any more people die because of me. Just stay there, like a good little sister." She said, feeling guilty for even suggesting the familial relation. Misaka-10032 struggled against the piping, visibly straining, before turning her head to look at Mikoto.

"Why? Misaka asks with alarm and confusion, not understanding Onee-sama's motivations." The clone asked her, her usual monotone voice slightly altered by physical strain and surprise.

"...Because I am a poor big…" She began before stopping. "It doesn't matter." She said, turning away. "Just stay there." She threw herself bodily into the air once more, making several leaps from buildings and industrial shipping equipment until she was back on her crane perch. She turned her head and looked down once more at the switchyard, and saw a familiar nightmare sitting atop one of the storage containers.

"HEY!" She yelled down at him, standing at the very edge of the crane arm. The bang-obscured face of Accelerator glanced up with a movement that indicated surprise. This was it. One way or another. This was it.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the third string." His voice shouted up at her, standing atop the storage container.

"Here for a rematch?" He asked in a mocking tone. In response, she raised her hands to her ears, sliding a pair of earbuds in. She felt them unfold and wrap around the exterior of each ear. Dropping her arms, she threw her right up into the sky, a booming loud thunder shaking the crane as storm clouds began to form, lightning striking inside of the dark clouds.

In response, Accelerator… only smiled.


	19. Chapter 19 - Kuroko

Kuroko groaned a little as she opened her eyes, some sun on her face. Pushing herself up, she rubbed the sleep from her eyes and glance around the room. She was… in Mikoto's bed? Another quick glance told her that she was alone.

"Where has she gone so early in the morning?" Kuroko wondered as she crawled her way out of bed, going about her morning routine. Stepping into the shower, her mind wandered to the previous evening. While Mikoto had done that for her arms before, she'd never done so in such an… intimate manner. Let alone letting Kuroko sleep in the same bed as her. The memory made her heart race, and she loathed that she'd fallen asleep so early into their session. Looking down at her arms, they looked a little better, and mercifully didn't sting too much under the warm water.

"Onee-sama… what is going on?" She whispered, stepping from the shower and getting dressed, walking over to her desk to grab her Judgement armband she'd left there and pausing as she saw something right next to it. Furrowing her brow, she picked it up, recognizing Mikoto's handwriting instantly.

"Kuroko,

I know this won't make much sense, but I have done terrible things. Too many lives are gone because of my actions. I wish I could have had the bravery to say this to you face to face, but…

Just know that I have always cherished our time together. But I have to set this right, even if it costs me my life.

Please forgive me.

Love,

Mikoto"

Kuroko read the letter over what felt like dozens of times, her hands violently shaking as it felt like ice had poured down her spine. "W-what is this…?!" She gasped out, dropping the letter onto the desk and taking a step back.

"No, no, I have to focus, think like you do with Judgement." She yelled at herself, grabbing her gloves and pulling them on as she began to, quite literally, tear the room apart, looking for clues of any kind. She pulled open both their desks, upturned both beds, looked through clothes and dressers, and paused as she passed by Mikoto's enormous stuffed bear. Something was peeking out of its neck…

Reaching for it, she found the zipper and undid it, pulling out a large packet of papers.

"Level 6 Shift Project?" She read aloud, opening the first page and scanning through the document as fast as she could. She froze as she finished reading a few pages in.

"...And kill Railgun 128 times…" She said breathlessly, her hands shaking as violently as before, her eyes catching sight of something else in the bear. Pulling it out, she found a large map of Academy City, covered in various large red X's, which, after a moment of thought, she realized were the various facilities that she had been investigating that had been destroyed.

"Oh no… Oh no, what have you done, Onee-sama?" She gasped out, spinning around and grabbing her bag, shoving the various items into it and tearing for the door. She needed to go and find Mikoto before anything else could happen, she needed to do this. She…

She paused.

"Alone." She whispered out. That was what she had been thinking. She needed to save Mikoto alone. And that… was likely the same logic Mikoto was using to have done everything she'd been doing, whatever that may have been, without telling Kuroko or anyone else. And now…

Now…

* * *

Kuroko sprinted out of the dorm, teleporting straight past the Dorm Mistress and ignoring her angry shouts. She had more important things to worry about as she put her earpiece up to her head and let the monocle fold out over her eye. "Uiharu! You at the Judgement Office yet?!" She called out as she tore down the road heading into town.

"Just getting here, Saten is right behind me!" She heard Uiharu's voice ring out into her ear. "I'll pull up security cameras all around the city." Kuroko teleported yet again, carefully measuring each teleport so as to not overtax herself. She needed to be careful and find Mikoto safely.

She quickly head toward the center of town to better have a centralized location to move from once Uiharu found something, taking a route that passed by many of Mikoto's favorite locations.

"We have to find Onee-sama before she does something she can't undo. I think… I think she's planning to die." Kuroko said with a quiver in her voice that she quickly choked down. There was a gasping hesitation on the other end from Uiharu.

"B-but, why?!"

"I think it has something to do with these papers I have in my bag. I didn't have time to read them all, but it mentioned horrible things about killing Onee-sama. Evil people are at work here, and I think they might be the same people we've been looking into." Kuroko landed on top of a roof her head on a swivel as she desperately searched.

For what felt like hours they searched across the city as the sun began to get low in the sky, before Uiharu finally hit a stroke of luck.

"I found her!" Uiharu quickly said. "Head north by northeast!" She instructed, Kuroko quickly teleporting in that direction.

It didn't take long before she found herself where she needed to be. There was her Onee-sama. She seemed to be behaving largely normally, just walking down the street.

"I have her on the cameras, I'll keep an eye on her. Saten is heading in that general direction to pick up those papers, we can read them while you keep an eye on Misaka-san." Uiharu informed. Kuroko let out a deep breath as she focused herself, trying to keep calm as she began to stalk her beloved, if only to protect her from herself.

For the next couple of hours they followed her, Saten forced to change her route on a moment's notice just to try to predict the direction Misaka might go.

"I'm four blocks from where you are, Shirai-san!" Saten called over the earpiece, having snagged one from the Judgement office.

"OK, just stay there. Uiharu, keep a hawk's eye on Onee-sama."

"Will do! What is that on her head…" Uiharu mumbled the end in slight confusion.

Kuroko teleported deeper into the city toward Saten, arriving to her in less than two minutes. Spotting Saten, she didn't even hesitate, appearing in front of her and shoving the packet of papers and map into Saten's hands.

"OK, I'll run bac-" Saten began, before Kuroko grabbed her and caused her to vanish, suddenly appearing on a passing overhead train headed in the general direction of the Judgement Office. Saten just sat there a little dumbfounded as people stared at her.

"Misaka-san went into a terminal toward some lockers." Uiharu informed as Kuroko headed back. "She's headed back out now with… a guitar case?" Uiharu just sounded confused. Kuroko was confused as well.

"What direction?" Kuroko asked quickly.

"Dead east!"

Kuroko began to teleport in that direction quickly, trying to make up for the lost time from the hand-off.

"SHIRAI HURRY!" Uiharu suddenly yelled, causing Kuroko's blood to turn cold.

"W-what is happening?!" She yelled, continuing to run and teleport quickly.

"I've lost ALL the cameras! They all just blocked me out, someone is attempting to deny me access! She was heading for an alley, please hurry!"

Terror couldn't even begin to describe the feeling in Kuroko's mind. She was on a rooftop, scanning various alley's and crowds, her breath moving quickly as she tried to track Mikoto down.

"Where did you go?" She asked, her chest heaving up and down. Then, she heard it- gunfire. Her head turned quickly toward a series of alley's from one of the densest parts of the city. She leaped off the building and teleported to the next, moving as quick as she could, the sound of gunfire still going off even as she moved, before going silent. She landed down in one alley, running through them and searching them for signs of anything, anything at all. As she ran through the alley's, the sound of Uiharu's distressed noises on the other end as she fought against her own digital enemies, she finally found a clue. A shoe.

"This is… Onee-sama's." She said breathlessly, running to the end of the alley and spotting another matching shoe. Glass was shattered all at the end of the alley, and Kuroko's heart raced with an intense sense of wrongness in the air. She bolted down the alley passing by what looked to be spent bullet casings, and behind her, a crater in the alley with the shoe.

"I'm back! I've got your monocle and some cameras! You found anything yet?!" Uiharu yelled across the line as Kuroko tore through the concrete halls of the city.

"Not ye-!" She froze as she came to a stop, a smell hitting her nose. And a dripping. The sun had hidden itself behind the horizon, shading the alley's in a thick darkness.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

It was to her right, in the next alley. Kuroko's head began to slowly turn toward the source of the sound, and the source of the smell.

Everywhere, across the ground, the walls, the trash, was splattered with red. Metal fire escapes dripped the splashed substance into a massive pool on the ground. The smell of death. Kuroko took a few steps forward, Uiharu on the other end silent as the grave as she watched through Kuroko's eye.

At the center of the massive pool of wet blood was the mangled and mutilated corpse of a young girl wearing a Tokiwadai uniform, her face twisted into a final moment of sudden agony.

Kuroko fell onto her knees, her hands moving to her mouth, her mind refusing to acknowledge what was in front of her.

"No… No…" She whimpered out as her hand reached out toward the pool of blood.

The only answer to her misery… was a laugh. A cold, dark, echoing laugh from the darkness beyond the mutilated body. A laugh that chilled Kuroko to the bone, so filled with malice and ice.

And the laugh was soon joined by slow footsteps… approaching her.


	20. Chapter 20 - Mikoto

As Mikoto leaned to the side, letting gravity take course as she fell off the crane, she noted a key difference between herself and Accelerator. He was doing this for fun. She was doing this to win. Every bit of intelligence the Project had gathered was that Accelerator rarely strained himself in a fight, if ever, due to no opponent ever giving him any significant challenge- most lost due to his barrier. His barrier would reverse anything she threw at it back the way it came.

Accelerator watched her drop, Mikoto twisting in the air as a piece of metal plating from one of the storage containers tore off, attaching itself to her feet as she used it and her own field to propel herself forward, surfing along the ground with the metal as her board.

"Niiice." Accelerator complimented as he watched her, leaping from the storage container and onto the gravel, sending several a shockwave that launched rocks at her at deadly speeds. She jumped on her board, turning her feet and her metal shield toward the rocks and catching them with loud hits of metal against stone before landing once again and moving beyond his sight through the maze of storage containers.

Above, the thunderstorm continued to grow as it gathered momentum, thunder periodically rumbling out of the clouds, causing the area to shake slightly with the shockwave tremors. Mikoto's eyes darted upward as she saw the first drops of water begin to fall. Mikoto could gather the storm, but she didn't know how that downpour had been created when she fought Meltdowner- she'd learned a lot from her fight with the Number 4, but that was not one of them.

"Come on…" She hissed up at the storm, her attention quickly leaping back to launch herself and her metal surfboard into the air as stone and metal shrapnel began to pierce through her storage container shields that separated her from Accelerator, an enormous barrage of projectiles. One theory proven.

For all his power, Accelerator did not possess the ability to sense things beyond his normal senses with the ease that she did with her electromagnetic senses, if at all. The barrage hadn't aimed for her, just her general direction.

"Come on, are you just gonna be running all night? I'm gonna get bored!" She heard him yell out from the distance, though his voice was filled with a sort of mocking humor that annoyed her. In response, she focused on the clouds above, calling down several lightning strikes at his location. Predictably, the lighting shot straight back up into her clouds, a rather odd sight to say the least.

"So you think like a normal human too. You can't respond to redirect it consciously." She muttered to herself, gasping as she leaped again on top of some storage containers as one container was flung through the air, smashing through several stacked towers, nearly crushing her.

"There you are." Accelerator was grinning at her, his field of view less obscured. "Seriously, what are you even trying to do?" He asked with a laugh. "Your clones were a lot more clever than this." The words made her bristle with anger, but she shoved it aside, not wanting to lose focus. Thunder boomed overhead as the rain began to pick up. She noticed that the rain drops bounced right off of him, striking his body and leaping back up, like a cascade down his body onto the ground.

She blinked as he suddenly seemed to explode into dust, sending himself flying at her with a mad grin. Shit! Thinking fast, she leaped up once more, the metal plate just barely going over Accelerator's head and grabbing hand. She pushed the metal plate down, striking his back- which propelled her flying into the sky, using her powers to try to stabilize her flight.

"Oh ho…" Accelerator paused, grinning up at her. "How will you handle being up in the air when I can just-" His remark was cut off as the ground burst open, a grasping hand of iron sand reaching up to the top of the storage container tower that Accelerator stood on. The metal around him was shredded, but Accelerator simply sighed as it swirled around him harmlessly.

"Didn't you try this already?"

Mikoto didn't dignify that with a response, landing with a hard slam onto one of the storage towers, sliding down trailing sparks back onto the gravel, banking hard as she trailed her hand along the ground just centimeters above touching it, pulling up more black iron sand up, sending spiky needles of condensed sand at him, her eyes and magnetic senses watching him carefully as each needles hit at various points of his body, reflecting back the way they came, breaking up into clouds of dust as she released the magnetism condensing them.

"Clever…" He said with a grin. "Don't want me shooting it back at you, huh?" He stroked his chin thoughtfully. His constant commentary was grating and irritating, but she was fairly sure that was deliberate to get under her skin. She kept moving, trying to keep her eyes on him. He seemed to transition between idle curiosity and sudden intense aggression. Behind her, an orb of iron sand was forming, starting to shoot out more of the iron needles at him. If her next theory was right…

The sky thundered hard once again, rain starting to truly pour down harder now. "Hey Accelerator!" She yelled, reaching out with her mind and gripping a storage container.

"CATCH!" She yelled, throwing one of the containers at him. He nonchalantly looked up at it as it flew at him, knocking it aside without effort as it got within reach, the container exploding apart. He sighed and blinked as he looked up, seeing dozens more of the enormous containers barreling down at him.

"Really…?" He sighed out, destroying each of them one by one, sometimes creatively crushing one with another. He was entirely focused on the storage containers, while Mikoto kept moving in a circle around the circumference of the Switchyard, creating more of her iron sand bubble turrets, while catching the metal plating of the storage containers and throwing them deep into the ground. Glancing to her side, she looked up at him, who seemed to have lost his fun breaking the containers and was settling with sending their pieces at her and trying to crush her. She kept up her game of catch and planting the metal into the ground, panting hard into the gas mask hidden behind her scarf.

The rain was hitting the point of downpour, and Mikoto felt herself growing soaked quickly, but ignored the chill to focus on him. She skidded to a halt as she finished her circuit around the arena, dozens upon dozens of iron sand orbs at the ready.

"Try this on for size." She hissed, every magnet-made turret firing a barrage of iron needle projectiles at him. Thousands rained at him and he simply stood there staring at her, frowning, lightning striking the air and ground around them as the storm picked up. Thousands of needles tore through the rain, striking his barrier and dissipating into harmless puffs of sand.

"This is pathetic…" He sighed out, shaking his head. Mikoto focused on the needles. If her theory was right, this might work. She watched each needle, adjusting their trajectory. Not at… near. Near. To the side… and…

"Honestly, what exactly are you hoping to accompli-" His voice was cut off as something splashed into his eye. Mikoto froze in a moment of shock. Accelerator stood, blinking, reaching up and touching his cheek and seeing a smear of red.

"WHAT THE HELL!?" He shouted as, for the first time…

He bled.


	21. Chapter 21 - Kuroko

Kuroko stared out into the darkness of the alley with tear-streaked eyes, the mocking laughter continuing to echo as the footsteps approached. Her mind was a disaster of emotions, and she could barely process anything happening around her with enough rationality to do more than violently shake on her knees.

"Well, well, well… if it isn't Kuroko-chan. The bane of my fucking existence." The voice echoed from the darkness, the voice sounding abrasive and grating, reminding Kuroko of a… snake. She'd heard this voice before.

The call from Anti-Skill that lured her to the trap.

Out from the darkness, a well-dressed man stepped out, maybe in his mid thirties. Clothed in dress clothes and an expensive looking vest and tie, a chain hanging from his right pocket attached to a pocket watch. A wool dress jacket completed his outfit alongside a dark fedora. He almost looked like a figure from an old mob movie. The only thing that stuck out in his outfit in regards to color was the dark violet shirt he wore under the vest.

And his face… it reminded her of a disgusting snake, his eyes squinting so much she couldn't make out his pupils. He raised up a pair of block gloved hands, slowly clapping at the distraught teleporter, his broad malicious grin never fading. "Bravo, bravo." He mockingly praised. He grabbed his fedora, and flourished it in a bow, showing off hair as black as night with a single strip of dark purple to the right side. "I tip my hat to you… You truly are the biggest pain in my ass."

Kuroko could only stare at the man, his jarring jolly attitude at ends with the horrific mutilated corpse that served as a chasm between the two still-living people in the alley.

"It's a shame though. You make it this far, hold off death squads and assassins and misdirection, and yet, you break down at the sight of this." He sighed, putting his hat back on while gesturing at the corpse. "Truly disappointing. I was hoping you'd be made of stronger stuff, but I guess you're just as stupid and emotional as had been described to me." He sighed dramatically, shrugging his shoulders with his arms out helplessly, seemingly enjoying his mockery of her. .

Kuroko rose to her feet, grief giving way to anger. "You… Explain this!" She screamed at him, the man seeming only more amused at her pain. "You have the papers, do you not? Read them." He grinned. "Oh wait… you handed them off to Ruiko-chan." He grinned, shrugging some more. "Shame too. You'll regret that soon." He said ambiguously. Before Kuroko could demand he explain, he continued.

"Honestly though, THIS is what you want to talk about?" He gestured at the corpse once again. "I thought you'd be more interested in the neurotoxin, you've been chasing after that for weeks, even breaking the law to look into it." He said with a grin, reaching into his pocket to remove his pocket watch, idly checking the time. Kuroko's eyes widened at his remark, her hands moving to her thighs, fingers twitching.

"It was you? You are the poisoner?" She hissed out, to which the snake-faced mans only response was to grin even wider than before.

"Guilty as charged!" He said, giving another flourishing bow with his hat. He threw his hat back on to his head with a toothy grin.

"Why!?" She demanded, her hand slowly pulling her skirt up to grab at her metal spikes.

"Why? Well, that's a bit complicated for someone as stupid as you." He said, returning to his mockery. "But, I'll try to dumb it down. The neurotoxin was made by yours truly to develop Electromaster's powers. Specifically, I made it to affect both Mikoto-chan's powers, and her reasoning." He began to explain. A loud boom of thunder echoed across the sky, prompting both Kuroko and the Snake-Faced Man to look up, large black storm clouds gathering.

"It's starting." He hissed with a pleased expression. "That neurotoxin is my masterpiece. Ups the power of those who are imbued with it… just with the slight side effect of it being eventually fatal. Does some terrible things to your innards." He grinned back down at Kuroko as her gaze flashed down at him again, rage beating in her eyes as she pulled out three spikes between her fingers.

"You should know, your constant meddling has forced me to up the dosage. I had a regular scheduled poisoning itinerary, and you just fucked all that up. Her death is going to be far more painful than it needs to be." He sneered at her. "Just remember, her death will be pure agony, and that's on you."

Kuroko's eyes were filled with a mixture of confusion, and hatred, an unrestrained tempest of emotions. She could vaguely hear Uiharu yelling in her ear, but she couldn't even make out the words. She didn't know what to do, what to believe, what was happening. Mikoto was dead in front of her… but this monster was talking like she wasn't. She just… she didn't know what to do or think.

The man stepped forward toward Kuroko and the corpse. "Ah, but where are my manners?" He grinned. "Introductions. It is only proper you know the name of the one who will tear you from the mortal coil." He giggled out. As he approached, the bloody pool seemed to part for him in a strange manner, the blood piling up and making way for him as he stepped forward, just a few feet from the body.

"You may call me Indigo." He smirked, raising a foot up and stomping it down on the head of the corpse with a stomach-churning crunching sound, digging his heel into it. "Pleasure to-" He twitched his head up as Kuroko vanished and reappeared in front of him, screaming in rage at the defilement of the body. Her words were incoherent and filled with fury as she sent her spikes through the 11th Dimension, and straight into his… head?

She heard the spikes collide with stone, faintly noting that they'd scattered away from her target in every direction, before a foot collided with her gut and sent her flying.

"Tsk, tsk… so rude." He grinned as she retched and coughed. He reached behind his back underneath his coat, removing a curved wicked looking knife.

Kuroko was confused. Why had her spikes gone off target? Did she calculate wrong? She looked up and rolled out of the way as Indigo seemed to close the distance between them in an instant, swiping the knife where her throat had been a moment ago. She slid to her feet, vanishing once more, aiming to teleport behind him. Instead, she found herself in front of him once more, but her side was exposed.

"Sorry little girl… but it's not that easy." He grinned, throwing down a slice with his knife across her arm, Kuroko screaming out in pain as she hit the ground, leaping away from him. He just giggled at her as he sauntered toward her.

"What the hell are you?" She hissed, holding on to her arm. His grin only widened in response. "Secret~" He hissed before rushing at her once again, Kuroko relying on her ability once more to teleport out of the way, heading straight up- and found herself exactly where she meant to be. Why had it worked then?

She looked down and noticed that Indigo had paused and was glancing around for her, before looking up and smiling. "Clever." He raised his gloved hand at her, and Kuroko out of reflex teleported once more, landing onto a fire escape, twisting around to look at where she was a moment ago as she heard a deafening impact.

"What… the hell?" She gasped out. The building across from where she had been had… twisted. It was like the building had stretched itself unnaturally into a smashing arm, punching a hole through the adjacent building. What kind of Esper power was that?

She felt her footing began to shift, leaping from the fire escape without hesitation and teleporting herself to the ground as it twisted around in a similar manner, nearly crushing her in a vice like grip as it defied physics. Her eyes turned to Indigo once more, walking toward her past the corpse again, still with that vile grin. The air around him seemed… warped and wrong. Like staring into a funhouse mirror made in the depths of a serial killers mind. The ground around him warped and shifted, the alley behind him seemingly getting narrower and narrower, and the buildings writhing as if alive. The warm blood pooling down her arm painfully reminded her of just how much she could not linger with this inhuman monster.

Finally, she had regained her senses enough to hear Uiharu. "KUROKO! IT IS NOT MISAKA!" She yelled at the top of her lungs, prompting Kuroko's eyes to lightly twitch toward her right ear, but focusing back on Indigo immediately. She found herself backing up slowly, but couldn't seem to put any distance no matter how much she did.

"What do you mean?!" Kuroko demanded, pulling more spikes from her thigh holster.

"The project, Saten read it to me, it's a clone! They've been… oh god, doing so many awful things. B-but Misaka is still alive! I can see a massive localized thunderstorm from the office!"

A clapping interrupted their conversation. "Bravo, little girl, bravo, Uiharu-chan. This is why Kuroko-chan survived her assassination, someone as smart as you helping her out." He grinned, still clapping with his knife wedged between a palm and thumb.

"And… now." He grins, and Kuroko heard a loud smashing sound on the other end of her earpiece, with Uiharu letting out a scream of shock and fear.

"Don't worry, Kuroko-chan. I won't kill you, not yet. Not until those men have finished my instructions in defiling, dismembering, and decapitating that little girl you call your partner. I'll be sure to let you see pictures before I do the same to you." His grin, the vile, venomous, evil grin devoid of compassion or empathy, and dedicated to destroying all Kuroko loved, only fueled Kuroko's murderous rage as she charged once more.


	22. Chapter 22 - Mikoto

Mikoto launched herself off of her metallic surfboard into the wet, muddy gravel, rolling painfully as the location she'd just been in was crushed by a train. Accelerator was, to say the least, not happy with her.

"HOW?!" He growled, kicking another massive train at her that scraped and plowed through the ground at her, Mikoto throwing her arms up and putting all her effort into slowing its acceleration with an opposing magnetic field, managing to stop it just a few short feet from crushing her. She quickly sprinted away, correctly guessing that Accelerator had leaped up to crush her next. Several gashes were now across Accelerator's body, Mikoto's trick to bypass his barrier at least partially functioning.

"Secrets…" She panted out, trying to mock him, but already feeling her exhaustion. As he charged once more, she threw up another iron sand hand to smash at him, which easily was knocked aside by his barrier once more.

Accelerator's barrier. Anything that touched it, reversed itself. It made most forms of attacks essentially impossible, even deadly to the attacker. At the last possible moment, she'd had one of her needles solidify and run just barely parallel with his cheek- he'd just slightly brushed against it when he shook his head, reversing it- which only succeeded in launching the needles back the other direction along his cheek. It was a way to bypass the barrier and actually land a hit, but she hadn't done more than a few shallow cuts.

Meanwhile, Mikoto was fairly certain she was nursing a shattered left arm from that impact a second ago, and a concussion from a shockwave. She'd only really succeeded in pissing him off. Accelerator paused in his rampage, leaning forward before throwing his head back and laughing hysterically. Oh, this was a new development.

"Ah, man… I'm letting myself get so worked up." He panted out a bit, clearly just a bit winded. "I should be thanking you. You're providing me with the first decent fight I've had in as long as I can remember." He grinned wider, walking toward her, Mikoto moving backward despite herself.

"I hope you've got something else up your sleeve. Because if you think I'm going to let you have a repeat of that, you are sorely, SORELY mistaken!" He kicked another storage container, Mikoto throwing herself over it and to the side, fleeing back into the remaining towers of storage containers, water splashing around her feet. His cold laughter could be heard echoing through the storm as she ran. She couldn't kill him conventionally. She knew this. She looked up as more storage containers and train pieces began flying in her general direction, spinning in place and quickly focusing her mind to divert and disassemble, throwing them toward the perimeter once again. She was almost there…

She gasped as she leaped to the side, just barely avoiding a sudden grasping hand from Accelerator as he broke through one of the storage container walls. "Ohhh, so close! If I touch you, this ends!" He grinned leaping at her once again, grasping and grabbing at her quickly, Mikoto leaping from side to side, blasting iron sand from the ground at him in a slight wet slurry, her electricity bouncing from rain drop to raindrop in a light show of power.

"Come on! Show me something! Anything! I'm getting bored!" He yelled, kicking the ground and sending rocks flying at her. She threw an arm up, catching several across her body, leaving bruises and bloody cuts as she rolled away, crying out in pain as he stalked forward.

"This is all you got, huh? You've been using those iron sand attacks and throwing things, and you got a few cuts in somehow. I'll give you credit for that. Lightning was pretty." He sighed, walking over to her prone form. "Time to die, little girl." He reached down toward her head, pausing for a moment as he saw the scarf around her face having fallen off, showing the gas mask.

"...Why do you…?" He began, Mikoto taking her chance and leaping away from him, sprinting up the side of one of the containers, flinging herself into the air at the crane in which she had begun the battle. She landed, exploding in electricity as she destroyed the messenger bag the Shell was in, levitating it in front of her. Accelerator hopped over to the center of the battlefield, gravel crunching under his feet and water splashing around him. "Really? Didn't you try your big trick before? I mean, if that's how you want to die…" He sighed, smirking up at her.

"You're an arrogant murderous prick. You have no soul, and while I can never atone for all the lives I've let you end, I can at least stop you from killing anymore!" She yelled, electric arcs emanating around her and up and down the crane.

Accelerator frowned. "Why do you care so goddamn much? You should be fucking more pissed than anyone, they're defective copies of you. Are you that petty that you care so much about your own face getting killed? Is that it?" He hissed, a hint of… something in his voice. Doubt?

"...Spoken like someone who only cares for himself." She growled, setting her foot back and building up her charge, the lightning from above striking down at the groaning crane.

"Tch… whatever." Accelerator mumbled, staring up at her expectedly, his eyes saying only one thing; waiting for her to kill herself.

The Railgun pulled her right arm back and with a loud, angry war cry, punched the artillery shell, sending it exploding down at Accelerator, the impact sending an enormous shockwave out far beyond their battlefield. Accelerator simply stared as it sped at him, striking him- and reversing far faster than she'd sent it.

Now.

She put everything she had into this moment. The shell flew at her, striking her magnetic field, diverting itself upward and into the storm clouds at several times the speed of sound, her last working arm clenching at Accelerator.

Crack. Crack.

Accelerator blinked and looked down, the ground around him having been pulverized by the shockwave he'd unleashed from the artillery shell. Large cracks spread rapidly from where he was standing outward in every direction, and he suddenly felt the ground give way, collapsing downward.

"What the-!?" He heard metal scraping against stone as every storage container metal plating burst free from the perimeter of the battlefield where Mikoto had been sending them, sending the gathered flood water she'd been gathering from the storm rushing forward as the metal and every piece of rock and equipment caved inward toward Accelerator.

He looked down and saw what she had done. The useless iron sand attacks. They'd never been real. They had been bursting from the ground and attacking him, not to hurt him… but to do this.

She'd hollowed out the ground underneath them into a massive sinkhole filled now with metal, stone, sand, and rushing water.

Accelerator growled as he twisted in the air. "YOU THINK YOU CAN WIN WITH THIS!?" He yelled as he landed on top of a sinking storage container, throwing an arm up to deflect a piece of a train but finding it out of his reach when it suddenly froze. The various metal pieces of debris began to form into an enormous cocoon around him as he saw Mikoto above, focusing with intense strain, before his vision was blocked off by the cocooning metal, pushing him into darkness.

Mikoto knew she didn't have long before he got out. Putting the last of her energy into this attack, she called down every bit of charged lightning she had in the sky downward onto the sinkhole and across the landscape, electricity lashing out and ripping apart stone, heating metal, and putting forth untold devastation. She unleashed it for as long as she could, before her strength gave way, falling to her knees and sliding off the crane, plummeting down to the ground. She used the last bit of energy she had to slow her descent, hitting the ground with a loud thump, feeling bones crack, but not bursting apart.

The storm began to dissipate as she wheezed into the gas mask, waiting as she stared into the sky. Silence echoed out for a few moments before an explosion ripped through the area, Mikoto too tired to even look up. She saw the blur that was Accelerator as he escaped from her trap, landing above her, his feet on other side of her head, looking beyond angry.

"YOU THOU-..." He began to yell, but the words suddenly came out empty, he blinked as he tried to talk again but got nothing, his hand going to his throat in a wide eyed panic.

"That I could kill you that way? No." She coughed out through the gas mask. "But you're human… and I just turned every bit of oxygen you have into ozone." She coughed into the mask, the only thing keeping her alive at this point. Accelerator stumbled away before diving for the mask around her face, stumbling as he began to suffer from oxygen deprivation and a hint of ozone poisoning.

"Bet you're wishing you hadn't wasted that last bit of oxygen yelling at me." She said snarkily, still staring into the sky, in too much pain to even move. She heard Accelerator fall nearby, and the movement indicating he was struggling, before she heard a sliding sound and silence.

"Hard to calculate when you can't breathe, huh?" She added in, her stomach heaving as she turned her head, the mask falling off and blood vomiting out of her stomach. Fuck. She was going to die.

Was he dead? She couldn't hear him anymore. Maybe he passed out. She'd prefer he be dead. Oh well. She'd done what she could. She was too tired to even grab the mask even if she could stop vomiting blood, and she was just as prone to suffocating as he was now.

She blacked out.

She blinked as she found herself staring up at herself… no… The bruises on her arms. From the piping. Misaka-10032.

"Onee-sama… why?" She asked softly as she stared down at the original, holding the girl in her lap. She could breathe again… A brief glance with her eyes showed that she'd been moved away from the sinkhole.

"Accelerator?" She coughed out, her mouth tasting like iron.

"Unknown. Accelerator was gone when Misaka arrived." She answered, reaching over and touching Mikoto's forehead. That infernal scratching at the back of her skull she'd felt these past several days… broke. She felt a rush of thoughts pour into her mind, and her migraine vanishing like a dam broken loose. She felt… them. All of them. Every one of her… her little sisters.

"I know this is selfish… but please… just do your big sister this one favor. Live your lives for you. And not… for anyone else." She coughed out. "I just… wanted to do what a big sister should do just once." She whimpered out, struggling against unconsciousness once again.

"Onee-sama… The Level 6 Shift Project will not end because of this. Tree Diagram will simply recalculate." The clone said quietly, looking confused at the emotions she felt pouring from Mikoto's mind into the Misaka Network.

Mikoto weakly pointed up at the sky. "No. It won't." Misaka-10032 looked up, as did many thousands of Misaka's across the city into the sky. A streak of light could be seen barreling into the sky even still as it broke from Earth's gravity. They all saw in Mikoto's mind what she'd done.

The Artillery Shell.

With a flash of light, the shell struck Orihime II, the projectile fueled by both the Number 1 and Number 3's powers, while painstakingly calculated by Mikoto to be in the right spot. And in an explosion that seemed small from the surface, destroyed the satellite and the supercomputer it held.

"It's… over." Mikoto said weakly, her arm dropping. Mikoto blinked as the explosion suddenly shined brightly, and a separate streak of light blasted away from the satellite, spearing across space toward… toward…

"...No." She gasped out as her eyes widened. What had happened? What had she done wrong? Why? WHY?

The streak burned across the sky… and struck Endymion, The Space Elevator.

An enormous blinding flash of light burst across the skyline, a blinding burning light that sent a shockwave through the atmosphere. Silence followed for a brief moment. Then the groaning, like a giant from magical tales was crying in pain, the massive spire of Endymion swaying side to side, the painfully deafening sounds of anchoring cables snapping loose. Another burning explosion as anti-debris missiles detonated at the impact and structural collapse, and Mikoto could only stare as burning debris began to descend from the sky.

Misaka Mikoto stared into the sky, and saw the ruin that she had wrought, and the only words that could escape her mouth; "What have I done?"

And all she knew then, was darkness.


	23. Chapter 23 - Treefall

Kuroko let out a pained grunt as her face smacked against the ground, small amounts of blood pooling out of her mouth as Indigo's vile giggle was heard behind her. She struggled to push herself up off the ground, onto shaky legs, turning to face him, wobbling heavily. Over her earpiece, all she could hear was crashing, commotion, and screaming.

"Wonder if those stupid thugs are having fun with her." Indigo idly wondered as he twirled his knife around his finger, humming in idle thought as he sauntered toward Kuroko. Kuroko was beyond enraged. Why were none of her attacks hitting him? Why was her teleporting so unreliable around him?

Everything around him was warped, with bizarre tentacle-like appendages having erupted from the buildings that lined the alley. The various appendages seemed to defy physics with how they managed to stay together, long bending arms made of brick and stone, twisted around strangely.

"I thought you were a Pre-cog…" She muttered as she put an arm up defensively, the one arm not marred by a knife cut.

"Pre-cog?" He paused in mild surprise, before chuckling arrogantly. "Well… you're getting closer to the mark. But not quite there." He grinned, tilting his head as another one of Kuroko's spikes went awry and into the stone floor of the alley as she attempted to take advantage of his momentary distraction. She'd aimed for his right hand, but instead the spike had gone three meters down and to the right. Why?

The way he seemed to warp everything around him… the attacks generated by those fun-mirror like tentacles, the twisting of the fire escape… the pool of blood separating him, her attacks going awry. She had… an idea of what his power might be.

Her thoughts were interrupted as a low groaning, whining sound echoed through the alley and across the sky, followed quickly by a sudden loud shockwave that shattered the glass in all the windows everywhere she could see in the alley, and everywhere she could hear elsewhere in the city. It was a cacophony of broken glass, prompting her to throw her arms up over her head defensively as glass rained down onto the alley, narrowly avoiding injuring her badly.

Looking up, she noticed the warped area had lessened, and Indigo was staring up into the sky with a grin that was nothing short of madness.

"It's starting!" He laughed, Kuroko following his gaze upward. Through the sky, a bright streaking light that was familiar to her plowed upward. That… That was Mikoto's Railgun, without a doubt. The shockwave she'd made… it had been enormous.

Indigo was distracted. She rushed him, teleporting directly in front of him and stabbing upward with one of her spikes at his throat, just narrowly missing piercing it as he twisted out of the way and roundhouse kicked her down the alley, Kuroko smacking hard down onto the ground with a splash. Splash?

She realized with horror she'd landed in the massive pool of blood that had belonged to the corpse she'd found.

"Tch, lay there for a bit, I'm savoring the moment. I left a little extra… treat… inside that artillery shell Railgun just sent off. Call it a secondary shot, so to speak. I really should thank her for helping fulfill this next part… it's going to be glorious. Now, just wait ther-" He stopped short as a ringing phone interrupted him. He fished out a phone and put it to his ear as he looked up into the sky once more at the streaking railgun shot.

"What do you want, old man? I'm enjoying myself." He hissed as the voice on the other end, a low and soft voice, spoke.

Kuroko's eyes shifted to Indigo, running over him… she noticed something. Small bits of glass shards on his shoulder… the glass had struck him, somewhat. The way he shaped things, the way her attacks missed, it was almost as if he…

Her hand reached down, sinking partly into the pool of blood she now lay in. "Please forgive me." She said softly to the corpse, focusing hard, the pool vanishing from under her.

"I'll call you ba-" He stopped short as a splash interrupted his line of thought, looking down at his body now soaked in blood- but at all the wrong angles. "What the…" It was like he'd been splashed from several different directions. The blood that had struck the ground had gone in several different directions as well.

"FOUND YOU!" Kuroko hissed as she slammed her hand into the ground once again, reaching out to every shard of glass that had rained down into the alley. He twisted angles, warped everything- warped space.

"SHIT!" He swore as he spun, dropping the phone and stepping backward, but far too late. She teleported shards of glass everywhere he could possibly be, whatever pocket of space he was hiding in, and most of them missed him. One, specifically, did not. A squelching, stomach-churning sound was heard followed by an agonized scream of pain as Indigo grasped at his right eye, a large shard of glass sticking out of it, blood pouring down his face as she destroyed the orb.

"YOU LITTLE BITCH! I'LL KILL YOU!" He screamed, Kuroko pushing herself onto her feet and pointing. He glanced over in confusion as he glanced over and saw that the shards of glass had gone for more than just his face- they'd all impaled across the side of the two buildings that flanked him. There was a rumbling cracking sound as both structures heaved, Indigo looking up and instinctively throwing his arms up in defense as the two buildings came crashing down, burying him under thousands of pounds of stone as his shout of alarm was cut painfully short.

Kuroko's mind only went to two places- Mikoto and Uiharu.

"UIHARU! PLEASE ANSWER ME!" She yelled as she teleported on top of a building, her heart pounding in fear. On the other line, she heard crashing and more commotion, but no response…

* * *

Uiharu had tears streaming down her face in terror as one of the two thugs that had burst through the office door kept her pinned by her head up against the wall. One held a machete while another held a piece of pipe. Her school uniform was partly torn off, her arms raised in terrified defensiveness to cover her partly bare chest, and her heart pounded with terror at what the two men's wicked smiles implied what would come next.

"P-Please s-stop!" She screamed in fear. "D-don't h-h-hurt me!" She sobbed. Rather than reply, both evil men just laughed, reaching for her...

That line of thought was interrupted as the door slammed open and a war cry prompted both men to turn, one man catching a metal bat right in the face. His skull made a satisfying crunching sound as he was thrown back, his face a bloody mess as he crashed into a desk, Saten holding up her metal bat as she, without hesitation, went barreling toward her other enemy. He dropped Uiharu to swing his machete at Saten, who narrowly pulled away in time as a slice moved across her stomach, slicing her casual t-shirt open and leaving a bloody cut across her belly. Saten cursed, stumbling back a bit as the, far larger, man approached her, raising the machete up to cleave her in half, the thought interrupted as a computer monitor smashed into the back of his head.

The man let out a cry of pain as he fell onto on knee, Uiharu panting in panic as she stumbled away after having smashed the man in the head with her trusty monitor. He growled to turn and kill her with his large blade, but the thought was interrupted as Saten's metal bat struck and shattered his knee-cap, quickly followed up by another strike to the side of his head, downing him in an instant. For good, angry, righteous measure, Saten smashed the bat onto the back of his head once more, before turning at her other opponent who had stumbled onto his feet and pulled a pistol from somewhere, aiming it at Saten angrily. Saten froze in a moment of panic when suddenly the entire room shook and the windows blew out and glass rained everywhere, a shockwave appearing out of the blue from a certain battle of titans elsewhere, the gun going off as the man yelled in surprise, the bullet just barely grazing past the side of Saten's head, strands of hair severed as it hit the wall behind her.

Acting on pure instinct, she rushed over, ignoring her own dizziness, crying out another battle cry as she swung the bat down on his skull repeatedly, the man crumpling into a heap on the floor.

Uiharu was panting and hugging herself to hide her breasts in traumatized fear as Saten ran over and hugged her to her chest, feeling her violent shaking and silent sobbing, grabbing at the earpiece at her head as she heard Kuroko's cries of panic.

"We're here! We're OK!" Saten panted out, closing one eye as she felt blood pouring down the side of her head from the bullet graze, and some down her belly from the cut- that felt a bit deep.

* * *

Kuroko let out a moment of relief as she heard Saten's voice.

"I'm going to find Onee-sama! Get somewhere safe, I'll contact you as soon as possible!" She yelled before teleporting toward the storm that was beginning to dissipate. She made it about halfway there before an enormous explosion broke her from her thoughts, looking up as she was partially blinded from a bright light. As the light faded, she better saw the source- Endymion.

Her eyes widened to enormous round orbs as she saw a fiery explosion emanating from the enormous space elevator, a terrible sounding groaning heard as the elevator began to shake and sway, booming sounds of snapping support wires echoing through the sky, before an earth-shattering explosion of anti-debris missiles sent flaming debris showering from the top of the tower.

Kuroko could only watch in stark horror as fiery projectiles began to rain down upon the city, sounds of terrified screaming being heard throughout Academy City as hundreds of flaming shards of metal of a multitude of sizes crashed into streets, against buildings, and onto vehicles.

The sound of loud jet engines could be heard as the stabilizers of the tower activated, fiery engines pushing the tower in every direction as they tried to keep the entire tower from collapsing onto the city.

Kuroko blinked herself out of her stunned shock, and resumed her mission. She had a duty to Academy City- but at that moment, in her heart, she knew she had a greater duty. She needed to find the person she cared about most. Leaping from building to building through 11 dimensional space, she slid to a stop as she saw something in the corner of her eye. She quickly teleported down to it, freezing as she tried to process what she was staring at.

It was Mikoto… it was two Mikoto's. One Mikoto, her expression monotone with a pair of goggles on her head and wearing a Tokiwadai uniform, carrying on her back a second Mikoto dressed in casual clothes. Both were soaked in blood.

"Who… how… What is even…" She began, stunned, but was quickly interrupted.

"Onee-sama is dying. She needs to get to the hospital. To the Heaven Canceller." The monotone voice of Misaka-10032 said to Kuroko, recognizing the girl from the memories she now shared with her big sister. "Now, Misaka adds for emphasis."

Kuroko blinked, but let her heart take over, reaching forward and grabbing onto both of them, engaging in several rapid-fire teleportations toward the hospital, her eyes rapidly shifting around as she tried to avoid the chaos in the streets of both panicked people and flaming debris.

"Saten! Uiharu! Meet me at the hospital!" She yelled, knowing they'd know which one.

"Roger!" Came Saten's reply from across the earpiece.

Kuroko rushed as fast as she could, her arms searing in pain, as it felt like her world was ending.

* * *

The hospital was a chaotic disaster of triage and medical staff running around, and mercifully, the amount of blood pooled around Kuroko and the two Mikoto's got them enough attention for Mikoto to get on a gurney in an instant. Kuroko had attempted to follow them as far as she could, stopped outside of the room she was being treated, a nurse having to nearly tackle Kuroko down to get her own treatment.

It was Mikoto's copy that got her to stop struggling.

"Onee-sama would want you to get treated." The monotone copy said to Kuroko, which got her to calm down and allow the Nurse to treat Kuroko's serious wounds. Not long later, Uiharu and Saten arrived, getting their own treatment from the same nurse, and Uiharu mercifully given a spare shirt as she clung to Saten. Kuroko was too terrified to even ask, fearing the worst. Saten, looking at Kuroko and simply mouthed "I was in time". A small consolation.

What felt like an eternity, but was only a few hours, passed, the sound of falling debris unceasing throughout, Anti-Skill and Judgement doing everything in their power outside the hospital on the streets to do what they could during this horrific disaster. In the end, their nightmare was not over. The four girls saw several staff staring at the TV in horror as an emergency report streaked across it.

"It has been reported that while Endymion has been stabilized from falling, a large section has broken off due to anti-debris missiles having detonated from the unknown impact. This section is currently on a direct course for the city, and it has been reported that Anti-Skill is doing everything within their power to stop it. It has been advised that all citizens take shelter in the nearest emergency bunkers or safest locations…"

"...That won't do anything." Kuroko whispered. The size of the debris as it was being reported would be like a nuclear bomb striking the city. Nothing would be left standing. This… they were going to die.

A crashing sound interrupted her thought as several medical staff tried to restrain Misaka Mikoto as she shoved her way out of her hospital room, pushing people away and shocking them lightly to get where she needed. Her three friends and one clone chased after her, forced to run up the stairs as Mikoto moved into an elevator and forcibly made it close and rise up.

As they got to the very top of the hospital, to the roof, they found Mikoto staring up into the sky at the piece of giant flaming debris that was visible from several miles in the sky, barreling toward the city like an inevitable doom.

"I… will stop it." She raised her hand up, all four girls shouting at her.

"STOP!" They each yelled, Saten and Uiharu and Misaka-10032 running up to her, while Kuroko… froze for a moment.

"You'll die, Misaka!" Saten said in a panic. "You can barely stand, that thing is too big!" Uiharu nodded in agreement while Misaka-10032 nodded silently, her expression twitching slightly like she struggled to express her emotions.

"It doesn't matter… this is my fault. I have… to fix this." She raised her hand up, pointing it weakly at the debris, electricity starting to arc around her before she felt a weigh suddenly on her back, arms wrapping around her shoulders from behind. Kuroko.

"Onee-sam… Mikoto." She said softly, whispering into Mikoto's ear. One hand slowly slid up Mikoto's face up to her scalp. "You're so self-sacrificing… brave. You always fight to protect us. It is why I love you more than anything in this world." She whispered, Mikoto hesitating as she listened, unable to reply. "...I'm sorry." Kuroko whispered softly as she felt Kuroko's hand suddenly grip her hair at the roots, her arm tightening around Mikoto's neck.

Mikoto let out a choking sound as she struggled, before feeling a hard knee to her back, the impact shocking her as she lost her strength and fell to her knees, Kuroko guiding her down to the ground and placing her on her back. Kuroko leaned down and lightly kissed Mikoto's forehead.

"I'm sorry." She said again. "I love you, Mikoto." She stood up and looked at the others, who were staring in shock. "...Goodbye." And Kuroko vanished.

* * *

Kuroko fought to hold her breath in as the air pressure around her fluctuated, her feet landing solidly on top of the debris as it plummeted toward the city, grabbing onto it with burning arms, using a piece of metal spiked out as a backrest to keep herself from flying off.

For Academy City. For her friends. For… Mikoto.

Kuroko placed her hands down onto the massive piece of metal the size of a building, feeling her arms screaming in horrific agony, her eyes bleeding as she internally screamed in emotion and pain and force, feeling at the platform she stood upon. She wouldn't fail. At any cost. The Ocean? No, it'd create a tsunami. Back up was too far. The size… the kinetic energy… That was how.

She focused on all the momentum and kinetic energy it had gathered during its descent, all of it barreling downward, focusing it. It was all around her, all around this missile, and all she had to do… was move it. Just like she changed her spikes. Just like… This.

She gripped the energy in her mind, and teleported it. In reverse.

* * *

The four girls on the roof could only stare in shocked horror as space warped and groaned around the flaming debris before, suddenly, the metal exploded apart as its own kinetic energy collapsed against it, blowing the debris into thousands of pieces, scattering them away from Academy City.

Mikoto, on her knees, stared up at the exploding debris, tears streaming down her face as she felt like her world crashed to an end, and screamed in hopeless despair, before darkness claimed her once more.


	24. Epilogue

Six months.

It had been six months since the event that became known as "Treefall", when the satellite of the Tree Diagram supercomputer had been disastrously destroyed in a domestic terrorist attack funded by several research corporations across Academy City that had caused the immense damage to Endymion, and in turn, to Academy City as a whole, had occurred. At least, that was the story that was being told on the news.

Uiharu had been watching the news rather closely, as she didn't have much else to do these days. At the moment, she was walking down the hospital hall with some flowers with Saten, knocking on the door to Mikoto's hospital room and opening it.

"Good mornin- oh!" She paused as she spotted a figure next to Mikoto's bed. The woman was like Mikoto, only older. Misaka Misuzu, Mikoto's mother. They'd met many times at this point during their visitation to the still comatose Mikoto. Both Saten and Uiharu bowed politely.

"Apologies, we didn't mean to intrude." Uiharu said quietly, the older woman simply waving it off.

"It's quite fine. It's nice Mikoto has friends who care so much. How is Shirai?" She asked softly, though their expressions spoke volumes at the question.

"Still the same… they don't know if she'll ever wake up. They say the only reason she's alive at all is because that young man in the sweater-vest arrived with her so quickly." Saten said softly, frowning deeply. "We can't even see her, she's still in isolation." She added on, sighing sadly.

Uiharu made her way over to Mikoto's bedside, replacing the old flowers with new, turning and smiling down at the unconscious face of the Railgun. Misuzu leaned over and lightly stroked her daughters hair, which had grown quite long in her comatose state. "They're saying she and Shirai are heroes on the news." The mother said softly as she looked at her daughter.

Uiharu nodded a little, her hands in front of her. "Y-yeah. The city has rallied behind them, and the Board has really gone all out with the… promotion. And the Superintendent was kind enough to send a representative assuring that both of their treatments would be covered by the city." Uiharu sighed a little. "I just wish we could have them back."

"Are you two back at school yet?" She asked the two young girls, both of whom shook their heads.

"No, school will be shut down for awhile still, at least proper schooling. They've been doing everything they can to get us alternative options while the city is repaired. A large piece of debris hit our school, nearly leveled it." Saten said, shrugging a little.

There was another knock at the door, before it slid open and a girl walked in, pausing as she saw the three. They stared back.

"U-um, hello, Mi-Misaka-san." Uiharu stuttered out, still feeling unnerved and uncertain as to how to react to the sight of the clone. One of the many clones. Both Saten and Uiharu had been struck speechless for hours as they'd seen what felt like countless clones had marched through this hospital, practically adopted by the staff as they processed the various girls and treated them.

Officially, the clones were part of an illegal experiment to produce Level 5's against the laws and decrees of the Superintendent and Board of Directors, run by the same companies responsible for the domestic terrorist attacks that had caused such severe damage to the city. While Uiharu hadn't gotten official information, a little hacking and snooping found out that a few favors had been called in by Heaven Canceller of all people. Evidently, he had some kind of pull with the Superintendent, and the clones were wrapped up into the propaganda campaign- rather, state-sponsored promotional media movement- as innocent victims. The details of the Level 6 Shift Project had been quietly swept under the rug, and a large amount of researchers and business officials effectively thrown right under the bus to cover their own ass.

Uiharu was, admittedly, embittered by it. Saten had expressed similar bitter feelings, but both had decided it wiser to keep their mouths shut. In the end, this was about as good an ending as they could have hoped for.

Mikoto's mother stood from her seat and hugged the clone, as she did every time she saw her, and to which the clone still barely knew how to respond, only awkwardly returning the hug.

"Are you doing well?" Misuzu asked the clone, the clone herself shifting around on her feet and nodding softly.

"Misaka wanted to check on Onee-sama, Misaka-10032 explains, feeling shy at familial affection." The clone said, prompting a smile from the gregarious older woman, who ruffled her hair a bit.

Both Saten and Uiharu couldn't help but smile a little. While all the clones had that same monotone expression and demeanor that made them seem emotionless, a little interaction made it clear that they had emotions like anyone else, even if they expressed them strangely. Admittedly, it had proven extremely difficult to tell them apart, so they'd made a habit of stating their numbers during their self-narration.

As they talked for a short while, they paused in their conversation as the lights flickered in the room, all of them looking up for a moment at the ceiling light before a movement grabbed their attention. Twisting their heads, they looked at the bed.

Mikoto was sitting up in her bed, staring blankly into space before turning her head drowsily.

"...Mama?"

* * *

Plenty of relieved tears and cries of surprise and joy had erupted from Mikoto's room at the return of Mikoto to the waking world, interrupted only by medical staff rushing into the hospital to check Mikoto over and proceed with a dizzying amount of tests and procedures, as well as informing her of her condition.

Mikoto had, in fact, nearly died, and would have. It was discovered that the oxygen rebreather she'd made use of the night of Treefall had been laced with an intense amount of the copper neurotoxin that had plagued her over several weeks, and that the heavy inhalation of them had destroyed many of her inner organs. When Mikoto questioned how she was alive, she had broken down into nearly hysterical tears when it had been explained to her that the clones had, of their own accord, donated various organs of their own that they could live without, or could be replaced more easily in them than in Mikoto herself. Mikoto had to be reassured, many, many times, that none of the donors had died from their act of charity, and in fact, had recovered even before she had woken from her coma.

What was most interesting, as Uiharu and Saten learned after some conversation with Mikoto when given the brief opportunity for visits, was that many of the reassurances came from the clones themselves. The research papers from the Project had detailed the nature of the Misaka Network, and due to the unusual circumstances of the recent turn of events, Mikoto had expressed that she had, partially, become part of their Network.

The doctors were unsure of how this came about, or if it was permanent, and Mikoto herself expressed it was strange and difficult to always focus on, sometimes impossible for her to engage it, requiring the clones to engage her, which they often did.

Mikoto was bedridden for months, both from the physical and emotional strain she had undergone. Some days were better than others. Every day shared one thing in common, a question she always asked.

"Has Kuroko woken up?"

Every time, the answer was the same; "No, not yet." It had been ten months since Treefall, Mikoto finally undergoing her intense physical therapy after having been immobile for half a year and from her organs having been transplanted and rearranged.

Saten had nominated herself as Mikoto's unofficial physical therapy coach, spending an inordinate amount of time with Mikoto, helping her with her exercises in her room, cheering her on, and being as supportive as she could.

Uiharu had nominated herself as official flower gatherer and tea maker.

It was on one such midday as Saten walked in front of Mikoto backwards, coaching her along as she struggled to walk alongside her two supporting beams when Uiharu burst through the door, her face one of excitement and neurosis, screaming two words, that forced Saten to catch Mikoto before she collapsed onto the floor in shock.

"SHE'S AWAKE!"

To Be Continued.


End file.
